5 replies to this topic

[Oriole85]

ESPN: New York City native buys Panthers

 

http://espn.go.com/n...ccording-source

[DJ MC]

How in the hell are the Florida Panthers worth $250 million? They play in a market where no one cares, in an arena attached to a suburban mall abutting the Everglades. Is he going to move them to Hartford or something?

[Oriole85]

How in the hell are the Florida Panthers worth $250 million? They play in a market where no one cares, in an arena attached to a suburban mall abutting the Everglades. Is he going to move them to Hartford or something?

I don't think it's "worth" that amount, a lot of the sports sales sell for more than they should. At the end of the day, there's only so many NHL teams, so there's that. Burnside said in the video on the ESPN article, that he probably had to give a committment of not moving the team for a number of years to buy it, likely putting a "good faith" effort in.

[BSLMikeLowe]

How in the hell are the Florida Panthers worth $250 million? They play in a market where no one cares, in an arena attached to a suburban mall abutting the Everglades. Is he going to move them to Hartford or something?

 

Supply and demand. Wealthy people have more and more money to burn these days, but there's still only 122 franchises among the 4 major North American sports leagues, and very, very few of those are actually available for purchase at a given time. The Coyotes recent deal notwithstanding, I think it's only a matter of time before we see another Sun Belt franchise head north. While Viola may have to bide his time, it could certainly pay off down the road.

[Oriole85]

CBS Sports: Panthers announce sale of franchise to Vincent Viola, Doug Cifu

 

http://www.cbssports...viola-doug-cifu

 

First and foremost, let's get this out of the way: This does not mean the Panthers are going to be relocated. It's quite the opposite, in fact. This should only further cement the Panthers in Florida and help them attempt to turn the fortunes of the franchise around.

 

Chris Botta reported the total sale price was $250 million. The ownership of the franchise is more than just hockey, though, as SSE has the operating rights to the BB&T Center. So concerts and other events at the arena, of which there are many, are also under their domain. The organization has a lease with Broward County through 2028.

Explains a little more why it was such an "expensive" purchase.

[DJ MC]

First the Coyotes, and now the Panthers. If only the Thrashers had built an arena in Macon they would still be there today.