More likely you're talking a specific number of games rather than a set number of rounds.
You're probably talking 1.5-2 mil in revenue per PO home game, meaning 5-6 home games would get us over the ~9 mil in losses we've had the last few years. That could be done in as little as 2 rounds. Checkett's already paid off almost all of the Franchise's debt, so anything over that 9 mil mark would be straight profit.
Say what you will about Checkett's dragging out the sale, but he did a heck of a lot for this team in terms of putting us on solid footing(both financially and in terms of talent) going forward.
I was under the impression that getting into the black meant this year only. I wasn't thinking about it as a total of the losses since they took ownership. If that is the case, then yes. Making it a few rounds deep into the playoffs every 5 years or so is a much more reasonable way to balance out finances. I initially thought that they meant that we needed a few playoff rounds to just break even for that year. thats why i said it was a terrible way to run a business.
Its completely legal, and it will likely be taken into consideration when determining the final sale price. Stillman isnt stupid, he knows it is a revenue stream that he wont have any control over for a decade.
It does make you wonder how close Checketts was to bankruptcy if he had to do something like this. It probably meant that he was incredibly low on liquid assets.
The big fall out that I see is that now the new owners can't dictate prices and benefit from them. Whoever made that deal has all the power and ticket prices will have to reflect it if they decide to increase concession prices even more.
I was under the impression that getting into the black meant this year only. I wasn't thinking about it as a total of the losses since they took ownership. If that is the case, then yes. Making it a few rounds deep into the playoffs every 5 years or so is a much more reasonable way to balance out finances. I initially thought that they meant that we needed a few playoff rounds to just break even for that year. thats why i said it was a terrible way to run a business.
We're pretty well on the same page.
What I think you're forgetting is that when Checkett's bought the team, he also purchased 6 years worth of debt from Bill Laurie(easily over 200 mil in total) which he could have easily let build up even more. One of Checkett's first moves when he took over was to pay off that debt and get the books balanced. We've been spending over our budget the last 2 years; but we don't have that massive debt cloud over our heads anymore, meaning each year's finances affect only that year.
As I said, say what you will about him dragging on the sale process but he deserves all kinds of credit for clearing off that debt for us.
Kimzey, your latest take is a head scratcher. How did Checketts pay down debt and balance the books when the Blues have lost money every year? How much is the note he defaulted on?
Thank you! I really love that it's a bunch of St. Louis owners that will actually care about the team. As long as they don't get rid of Army, I'm all in with them.
The sale of the St. Louis Blues to a group headed by minority owner Tom Stillman is finally ready to be announced.
According to an NHL source, Stillman has his financing and legal work in place and is just waiting for the right moment – probably when the Blues are finished in the NHL playoffs – to make the announcement. The final step will be the stamp of approval from the league’s board of governors, although that is not going to be a problem since Stillman is NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s preferred buyer.
Tom Schlafly distanced himself from the whackadoodles and his aunt's Moral Majority craziness. Otherwise, I'd tell him to go drown in a vat of fermented mash.
