Per TSN Report: Blues' biggest investor backing out

[philco_3]

The largest investor in the St. Louis Blues has notified owner Dave Checketts that it is divesting its interest in the NHL team.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the move to back out by private-equity firm Towerbrook Capital Partners could have an effect on the ability of Checketts' company, SCP Worldwide, to maintain ownership.

"Dave Checketts and SCP Worldwide have done a remarkable job of restoring the pride and passion of the St. Louis Blues," Towerbrook said in a statement published by the Post-Dispatch.

"We joined this investment group because of the many past investment successes we have had with Dave. We knew that he, along with his partners, would help revive this franchise and they have delivered since day one. It now sits on a very solid foundation, one that we have been very proud to help rebuild.”

The paper adds that any speculation on Checketts' ownership of the Blues is premature, as SCP Worldwide spokesman Eric Gelfand said he is committed to finding a replacement investor.

"When we purchased the St. Louis Blues in 2006, we were joined by a strong group of our friends and investors," SCP Worldwide announced in a statement published by the Post-Dispatch.

"Later, we were fortunate to add local ownership when Tom Stillman joined us. Together, we have built a strong foundation for success and stability in St. Louis. We knew at the outset that our private equity partners at TowerBrook had defined investment and operational objectives, which have now been reached. Therefore, we at SCP have retained the sports agency group at Citibank to help us find new investment partners to join us and Stillman as we continue to remain committed to the City of St. Louis and the St. Louis Blues organization."

[Nyghtewynd]

We already established on this forum that ownership isn't responsible for anything. I fail to see how this story means anything in that light.

[ViPeRx007]

I hear the Blues are going to move to Billings, Montana.

[Portland Blues]

I hear the Blues are going to move to Billings, Montana.

No, no - they'll be road tripping through Billings on their way to Portland, OR.

[cprice12]

Whatever happened to a family owning a franchise for decades?

I'm pretty irritated with all of these "ownership groups" made up of a bunch of people, and when one backs out or wants to sell, then the boat gets rocked.

It's bad enough that being a fan of the Blues is emotionally and mentally exhausting...but to also deal with this crap every few years too?

F this. Let's get some ownership stability for Christ's sake.

[abc789987]

I got 10 bucks, who wants to join me in purchasing part of them?

[Portland Blues]

I got 10 bucks, who wants to join me in purchasing part of them?

I'll buy in at fire-sale pricing but will sell as soon as my investment gains 13.9 % in value. I'm the guy that could care less about hockey or the team but it's either this or payday loans...

[sseagle]

I got 10 bucks, who wants to join me in purchasing part of them?

I'll buy in at fire-sale pricing but will sell as soon as my investment gains 13.9 % in value. I'm the guy that could care less about hockey or the team but it's either this or payday loans...

Well I've been looking at getting out of the meth market, maybe professional sports will be a good turn... wait taxes? what?

[DaDitka]

It's bad enough that being a fan of the Blues is emotionally and mentally exhausting...but to also deal with this crap every few years too?

F this. Let's get some ownership stability for Christ's sake.

They really need to get this right soon, you've seen in the NBA they way teams are moving on a whim, and with the NHL they figure the hockey market in St. Louis is pretty much what it is (not a lot of room for growth, not a lot of danger in diminishing too greatly).

I think the league would view the Blues moving to a city like KC as a win, because they believe they would retain many/most of their St. Louis fans and they would gain far more in KC and the surrounding areas.

Overall, the media/advertising world view the KC area as a point of growth (one of the big reasons the Big Ten is looking at Mizzou) and the city officials are far more cooperative then these here in St. Louis.

Retaining the Blues in consistently murky waters will get much tougher as the national economy recovers. We need to get this right, this time, and soon.

[JPonder94]

I'm scared. Will somebody hold me?

[glen a richter]

It's bad enough that being a fan of the Blues is emotionally and mentally exhausting...but to also deal with this crap every few years too?

F this. Let's get some ownership stability for Christ's sake.

They really need to get this right soon, you've seen in the NBA they way teams are moving on a whim, and with the NHL they figure the hockey market in St. Louis is pretty much what it is (not a lot of room for growth, not a lot of danger in diminishing too greatly).

I think the league would view the Blues moving to a city like KC as a win, because they believe they would retain many/most of their St. Louis fans and they would gain far more in KC and the surrounding areas.

Overall, the media/advertising world view the KC area as a point of growth (one of the big reasons the Big Ten is looking at Mizzou) and the city officials are far more cooperative then these here in St. Louis.

Retaining the Blues in consistently murky waters will get much tougher as the national economy recovers. We need to get this right, this time, and soon.

Kansas City Blues really has no ring to it at all.

And K.C. Masterpiece would be a blatant lie and flase advertising.

[TSUCookieMonster]

Kansas City Blues really has no ring to it at all.

And K.C. Masterpiece would be a blatant lie and flase advertising.

Yeah, it wouldn't be the Kansas City Blues. Although, apparently there is a good jazz scene downtown but I can't say first hand. Also for some reason, the color Blue is used a lot in KC... Blue Valley, Blue Valley Parkway, Blue Ridge, Blue Balls, etc.

[gaijin]

Return of the KC Scouts?

[cprice12]

Let's set one thing straight...
The Blues are not going anywhere. Even if ownership wanted to move them (which they don't), the town and the league wouldn't let them leave.

One of the owners is selling their interest in the team. Someone will buy their share and that will be it.

The problem I have with this whole stupid thing is that it seems to happen way too often when "ownership groups" are involved.

It would be cool if they could sell a portion of the team to the fans. Let the fans own part of the team, get to vote on team decisions, contribute money to up payroll, etc. If you can get 10k fans to jump on board and give, say, $1000 each to own part of the team, that would be $10 million. And the "fan ownership group" would fork over a couple hundred bucks each every year, that's another $2 million that could go towards payroll. The fans could elect a few representatives to vote on payroll and player decisions. If we are going to have an ownership group, it would be nice for the fans to be in on it.

[JPonder94]

Let's set one thing straight...
The Blues are not going anywhere. Even if ownership wanted to move them (which they don't), the town and the league wouldn't let them leave.

One of the owners is selling their interest in the team. Someone will buy their share and that will be it.

The problem I have with this whole stupid thing is that it seems to happen way too often when "ownership groups" are involved.

It would be cool if they could sell a portion of the team to the fans. Let the fans own part of the team, get to vote on team decisions, contribute money to up payroll, etc. If you can get 10k fans to jump on board and give, say, $1000 each to own part of the team, that would be $10 million. And the "fan ownership group" would fork over a couple hundred bucks each every year, that's another $2 million that could go towards payroll. The fans could elect a few representatives to vote on payroll and player decisions. If we are going to have an ownership group, it would be nice for the fans to be in on it.

You know that will never happen. The NHL Board would never allow it. It gives fans too much power.

I do like the idea though.

[glen a richter]

Similar "fan ownership interest" was attempted when the Expos were being taken over by MLB prior to moving to Washington. I pledged some money towards that because I thought it would be damn cool to own a team, even if my ownership was limited to the lid on a water cooler in the visiting dugout.

With that many fans getting a piece of the pie, who decides who gets which seats for which games up in the owners box?

[TSUCookieMonster]

Better watch out or Mr. Bettman will seize the Blues and try to move them to the south where there is a larger hockey market. Say... Tallahassee or Mexico City or something.

[DaDitka]

One of the owners is selling their interest in the team. Someone will buy their share and that will be it.

As Bernie pointed out yesterday, it's not going to be an easy job talking someone into purchasing 75% of the team and still letting Checkett's run it.

I don't think they are leaving any time soon, but if the new owners back out in a few years two, I'm going to start feeling much less comfortable.

[TheoSqua]

I believe the entire Packers franchise is run this way, so it's not like is isn't doable....or at least was doable 100 years ago.

[glen a richter]

The Stockholm Blues