I don't think that's been made clear. Sure in the press conference he said he is 100% owner of the Columbus Crew - but I'm fairly sure HSG would have said the same thing, they wouldn't have said they were 98% owners with this little 2% chunk owned by a bunch of local folks. I think this needs clarification before I get worried...
Well, he's the one who said 100%. I'm just taking him at his word. He could have said Majority owner, but he didn't. He specifically said 100%. Sounds like Pizutti (sp?) is out to me.
Oh, and this was a MAJOR announcement. No Christmas Story lamp-shade major award type stuff here. Mea culpa on that score.
I'll ask the judges for a ruling here but strictly speaking this is not true. The Saputos did found the team back in the early 90's, but it was bought by Ionian around 1999 or 2000 (too lazy to look it up). In 2002 the team went bankrupt, essentially going out of business. A new team, using the same name, started up a year later but it was co-owned by the Quebec government and the provincial power company Hydro-Quebec. Joey Saputo was named to run it. That team was shut down when Joey Saputo was granted an MLS team. You can connect the dots if you choose to - and for obvious reasons Le Impact likes doing just that - but except for the name and the fact that Joey was around for a lot of the iterations, it's not really the same club at all.
I really hope he owns a film company that makes Christian family-friendly films as well just to spite most MLS fans. And that he changes the name to the "Columbus Mad Frackers" in honor of shale gas development in Ohio
From the Dispatch story: 100 percent of the Crew. Not 100% of the 49%. 100 percent. So here is another example of why everyone should, for the good of the order, please stop making reference to the falsehood that MLS "owns" 51% of each of its clubs. Precourt owns the Crew lock, stock and barrel and is subject to the same franchise agreement with MLS as all other investor/operators. They manage the stadium now, they own everything that goes along with owning the club (except the player contracts, obviously, which are held by MLS, LLC). They got stock in the LLC and, presumably, in SUM.
From a business point of view, buying on the condition of not being able to move severely devalues the franchise, which would have to be reflected in a lower price. So while I understand that is worrisome, I would be surprised if he either agreed to a condition like that or the Hunts gave up some of their profit. We'll have to read the Garbar-leaves on this one. I can't see going form Columbus to, say, St Louis. That would have mildly more cache, but it would be mostly lateral, I think. (No insult to St Louis - my wife is from there and I visit often). But a big jump to SF (say a China Basin stadium) or someplace with more brand appeal could be something the league agrees to. If The Donald starts to say things like "we are committed to Columbus but the stadium issue is critical" it means...yeah, they could move.
That's "Doublewide" to you. The thing is that the state of Ohio Expositions Commission (State Fair) owns the land upon which the stadium sits. The Crew has a 25 year lease on the site ($25,000 a year) which is now, obviously, in its 14th year. It is renewable for another 25, but nobody seriously thinks it was ever built to be a 50 year stadium. Plus, because of the arrangement, the Crew also does not get parking revenues since the lots are not included in the lease. In fact, as most people know from attending USMNT games there, it's basically nothing but a dirt field which, when it rains, becomes a mud hole of death anyway. For years the Crew complained that Ohio had taken X millions of dollars in parking money and given nothing back and they did finally pave some places but it still stinks. Also, the Crew is bound by the State fair's concession contracts, meaning that food consists mostly of Sodexho garbage rather than actually decent, edible stuff. So there are some real limitations as far as income and control. Plus, frankly, a number of engineers have said that yes you could, in fact, mostly disassemble the place and sell it to a college of something and pretty much break even.
May be Anthony can get some pointers from these people.. MLS stadiums evolve to suit fans, owners Kansas City Business Journal
In Columbus forum, people referenced a price of over 50 million. That sounds about right for one of the smallest markets.
Does anyone know what the initial stake was for MLS teams? I believe the stadium cost was $28.5 million: http://crewstadium.com/stadium-history/ The Hunts no doubt, along with the other owners, took some lumps during the early years of the league. But although the Crew hasn't been profitable on it's own, I believe HSG has turned a tidy profit from hosting other events at the stadium (Concerts, football (pointy) games, etc). I'd hope there is enough room there for HSG to make some profit. For all Lamar did for soccer, MLS, and Columbus, I hope they at least got their money back.
I'm actually wondering if Hunt is looking to sell of all his MLS properties. In other words, I wonder if FC Dallas is next.
Seems strange, this year Dan Hunt has been very hands on (leading the pre game pin the Scarf on Lamar ceremony, weekly facebook chats, etc), far more then he ever was in the past. To get involved personally while trying to sell it doesn't seem to make sense (unless there's some benefit to doing this).
I haven't read this whole thread so I am not sure if it has been mentioned, but it looks like although PSV may have 100% ownership, that the Hunts actually now have a stake in PSV, unless I am missing something. So although they are no longer the owners of record, it seems as though they did retain some level of investment in the club, even if it is by way of merely holding some equity in the partnership.
If I remember correctly, when the new guys in DC purchased their share of United, it was extrapolated that DC was worth about $50 million (and that was without a stadium). So if this deal included Crew Stadium, then I'd say that the actual valuation of the Crew is well under $50 million. Just guessing, I'm not an accountant.
That's a good point. They claimed, today, to be committed to Dallas, but they were never going to say otherwise for obvious PR reasons. Still, while cheap, the Hunts have earned the benefit of the doubt and if they say they're sticking with FC Dallas, we shouldn't doubt them till they prove otherwise.
Please don't change the logo or rebrand, new owners. It's taken me a long time to warm up to the brand, but now it's one of my favorites in MLS.