Or very good news, it's impossible to make any sort of judgement call right now. New owners could be cheapskates and turn us into West Coast Revolution, or they could be mega rich and dedicated and help to push the envelope even more on big players. I suppose we could get bought up by someone like Red Bull and get rebranded..... Going to be an interesting next few months that's for sure.
Until Don Garber speaks I will not panic... I won't I will be a rock... no seriously I won't panic... Ok... maybe a little... someone hold my hand... HELP!!! I'm in PANIC MODE!!!
With the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and Arabs buying up elite teams around the world it wouldn’t surprise me if a Qatari or UAE company buys them. I seem to recall AEG has some pretty deep ties with Dubai. AEG is more than the Galaxy of course, but still I could see them making a deal with Beckham to become a partner with his stake being owner of the Galaxy dovetailing nicely with his contract option. // edit: NPR just said Patrick Soon-Shiong is interested. He’s worth $7.2 billion and is a part owner of the Lakers. Could just be PR. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Soon-Shiong
From the research I've done...a lot of people are saying that Patrick Soon-Shiong is definitely an interested buyer. He's known as "the richest man in LA" btw. He bought Magic Johnson's ownership of the Lakers in 2010 and was part of a Steven Cohen's bidding group for the Dodgers. His net worth is supposedly $7.2 billion and phil's is around $7 billion. Another possible buyer is the Guggenheim group (they bought the Dodgers). A source said that Soon-Shiong is actually with the Guggenheim group this time, but during Soon-Shiong's announcemenet that he was interested in buying, no mention was made of the group. If you want, read my article: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...orts-and-entertainment-empire-aeg-up-for-sale
Until we know who buys AEG and if they keep all the assets or sell off the pieces, it will be hard to predict how this will affect the Galaxy. Just going to keep my fingers crossed...
This is nothing like buying the LA Dodgers. AEG is a mega-mega enterprise. When they discussed this last night it was brought up would AEG sell pieces of it's empire and they said "not right now"... but they're is no way in the world there is a buyer who wants all they have to sell. The top prize is the potential farmers field/ NFL deal, Staples Center, Nokia Theater, LA Live complex. Then the 02 Arena, and then down the line of some 70+ stadiums, arenas, event centers, and convention centers. Forget about the 20 teams they own a full or partial stake in. I can't imagine there is a individual owner on this planet who wants all those components, who has a team in place to manage all that, and at the very least cares to see some of the less valuable pieces through with anykind of enthusiasm as Uncle Phil and AEG has the past 10 years. The price tag on this deal alone will only have a handful of potential buyers and none of them after they have gone thru the vetting process are going to be perfect fits for our own situation. That is why breaking this up and selling pieces is the only way the Galaxy and Houston and the Kings no less can assure they get an owner who cares directly about them and us, and not a property and entertainment hoarder with eyes on the breakup value of the enterprise. As it relates to the dodgers sale, the dodgers sale just showed how retarded the economy of being stupid rich in the country really is. are the dodgers the most valuable sports franchise in the world.... ******** NO. not even in the top 50. But the ridiculous price tag paid this year for them is telling Uncle Phil and alot of others cash in now, and let the dodgers and there marketing firm show you how.
I don't see anybody re-branding the Galaxy. The team has the highest international profile of any in the league and is a known commodity with a strong title history. Beckham and Keane (plus Donovan to a lesser extent) have contributed greatly to the brand's value on an international level. When Red Bull bought the MetroStars, the entire league had a lower profile. The team had virtually no presence outside of MLS and the brand had no real equity. Though many complain about its current identity, pretty much nobody really embraced the Metrostars brand either. Comparing the 2012 Galaxy against the 2006 Metrostars is like comparing the NFL to the UFL...
They are now posting about this on MLS.Com as well. Man I do not won't to lose Uncle Phil's cash. Nor do I want to deal with an owner the likes of a Jerry Jones or Roman Abramovich(Even though I do love the fact that both have zero problem with dropping cash on stacked rosters and stadiums). I wonder if it would be possible to do like The GreenBay Packers and have the fans essentially buy the team? http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2012/09/19/galaxy-could-get-new-owner-first-time-club-history
This article says that the price tag could be in the billions: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/anschutz-entertainment-group-sale-la-kings-371395 I'm not sure how much the stadium and entertainment assets are worth, but I would say the Galaxy's worth in the sale will be a rounding error. And even the Kings may just be worth less than 10% of the portfolio. If they sell everything to one new owner, it probably won't be a good thing for the Galaxy.
Phil is brilliant, and this timing is perfect. Now that building Farmers Field and buying an NFL team has become a real possibility for AEG, Phil can sell at top dollar to someone with NFL stars in their eyes, and let some other sucker spend the $1.5 Billion (or more) that it will cost to "bring football to LA".
All of these are excellent points, and scare the bejeezus out of me. The most likely scenario is that AEG is purchased by someone who breaks it up and keeps the core part of the enterprise and sells of the extraneous pieces. This would remove the steadying influence that broader, more diverse revenue stream provides to the Galaxy (as a fairly minor part of the whole). It's also important to remember that AEG's involvement in MLS has always been about the long-term prospects of soccer in the USA. If we get an owner that is JUST the owner of a franchise, they are much more likely to be influenced by short-term profit/loss issues than long term trends. When I look around the league, I would say that only Seattle has an ownership group that might be seen as an improvement over AEG, so that right there tells you the odds of getting something better are at the very most optimistic 1:20.
The more I think about it, the more this suggests itself: Phil is 70. The asset is about as strong as it is going to get during his life expectancy. This could simply be a matter of estate planning. It's a lot easier to divide a pile of cash among heirs than it is an asset with as many pieces as AEG has. It will be real interesting to see if they have to break it up and sell it piecemeal, or whether there is an investor group interested in the package. In terms of the impact on LAG, it just is imponderable at this point, but as Ghosting pointed out, its hard to imagine that there is going to be an ownership group more committed to the sport or more committed to LAG than AEG has been.
If you go to www.aegworldwide.com poke around there and see all the sh*t they own, partially own, run, and do. Tell me one individual who can afford all that. who actually wants to liquidate they entire fortune for all that. And at the end of the day can truely focus their attention, energy, or desire to see all those entities grow in the future. there isn't one human on earth with that much money.... who cares about everything AEG owns and is in to. This deals will like be over 10 billion dollars considering all the property and building values, and potential Farmers Field value on top of that. Look at the website and think about it... Do you even care about swedish hockey? chinese arena's? Grammy Museum? exhibition euro league basketball? sunfest? amgen cycling? sadly the LA Galaxy? 75% of the value of this company is it ownership of property, venues, and structures. 15% of the rest is contracts with entertainment figures and talent to exclusively play in AEG owned and operated venus, and festivals. The other 10% is the ownership of 15 or so sports franchises, with much of that value going to the LA Kings. The Galaxy has more potential as the most lucrative piece of the AEG pie in the future, but only if the right owner/ownership group comes by and see's that too. If not, why not let go of some of the less profitable comodities and let someone else take the high risk with very little reward of having a flagship soccer team in the United States. I doubt if Phil and the group find potential buyers, they aren't going to let a little issue of new owners not having the passion for soccer and its growth stand in the way of one of the largest business deals in this city ever.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/footb...mers-aeg-nfl-20120919,1,4371278.column?page=1 Take it with a grain of salt because it's Simers but he suggests that Anschutz doesn't really care about bringing the NFL back to LA and that he and Tim L. have a strained relationship these days because of it. Also suggests that it's all pointing to Patrick Soon-Shiong as most likely candidate. He has ever bit as deep pockets and Uncle Phil that's for sure. http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-patrick-soon-shiong-aeg-20120919,0,5314243.story
Hard to imagine why this guy would want to own AEG: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Soon-Shiong EDIT: Credit to Dashiel above for already posting this link... but it is just wierd that a guy with his background and interests would want to buy an entertainment empire.
Sultan of Brunei? Besides, that's why they form investment groups or corporations. I trust you have heard of those vehicles for pooling the money of more than one human on earth.
Like I said above, there were reports that Soon-Shiong might actually be in a bidding group with Guggenheim Partners (this is the group that bought the Dodgers). If that's the case, I could totally see the deal actually working out with all the money that is involved.
I'm sorry but I don't follow this logic? Why wouldn't he want to own AEG? He is the richest person in LA and a big LA sports fan. Anschutz's background doesn't exactly scream entertainment empire either.
Up until now his main focus has been the medical field and philanthropic work, not hedonistic entertainment. He's in the Bill Gates / Warren Buffet club who seem to think they should be applying their riches to making the world a better place. Those types of people are not generally known for investing in idle entertainment. PS. I'm not making any value judgments here... just outlining the argument.
Look up Anschutz's past. He is an strict evangelical christian who is got his start in farming and railroad. He is also very philanthropic and one who you would not think to be into hedonistic entertainment yet here we are...money is green no matter where you get your start.
so am i gonna be the only one to reply to the " beckham should buy the team" guys with the Beckham and Alexi lalas to buy MALAGA FC reports http://www.thebiglead.com/index.php...buy-la-liga-club-according-to-spanish-papers/
First line of wikipedia about Anschutz: We're talking about a completely different animal here. We're comparing a guy who made his fortune inventing cures for diseases to a guy who made his fortune from his dad's natural resource extraction company. BTW... I know none of this really matters. It's just a fascinating aside to me.