According to Strickland, Checketts sold all the concession rights for $10MM for a 20 year contract. That is a tremendous amount of revenue that a new owner cannot reap the benefits from. No wonder this has been a tough sale.
According to Strickland, Checketts sold all the concession rights for $10MM for a 20 year contract. That is a tremendous amount of revenue that a new owner cannot reap the benefits from. No wonder this has been a tough sale.
makes alot of sense, and seeing as checketts and stillman dont really like each other it could drag out longer
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Hi JR - Based on what I've read (from seemingly credible and uncredible sources), the Blues are hanging by a thread, financially. Even so, I though I'd heard last year or the year before that the team's finances/budget was set up so the team would make a profit simply with a home playoff game or two. Is the situation really as bad as everyone makes it out to be?
by Doug3/15/2012 6:48:59 PM 2:48 PM
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It's bad. From the people I speak with, even some outside the organization, the Blues probably need to raise ticket prices more than they did. But that's not feasible in this economy. The 9.8 increase announced today will make a dent, but the Blues have a long ways to go before they're financially stable.
Apparently Tom Schlafly of STL Brewing Inc is part of Stillman's group, which is great, because my dad is buddies with one of the Schlaflys
Good to hear. More cash should help along the sale. Although, it makes me a little worried about my beer selection. Selection has been getting better the past few years, but I want more the Schlafly products.
Checketts said that if we make it a few rounds, we will be well into the black. Question is, how many rounds is a few? If we make it to the WCF, maybe it would be enough to allow new ownership to pump some money into the team in the off season.
Checketts said that if we make it a few rounds, we will be well into the black. Question is, how many rounds is a few? If we make it to the WCF, maybe it would be enough to allow new ownership to pump some money into the team in the off season.
The thing about that always bothers me about comments like that is will the team be in the black? Or the entire entity of The Blues, Scottrade, and now Peabody be in the black? You could also throw in "Is the tax write-off on the losses on the Blues benefiting the ownership" in there too.
The thing about that always bothers me about comments like that is will the team be in the black? Or the entire entity of The Blues, Scottrade, and now Peabody be in the black? You could also throw in "Is the tax write-off on the losses on the Blues benefiting the ownership" in there too.
Everything is apart of the sale, so it really doesn't matter IMO. As long as the whole package is making money, then we don't have to worry about our finances.
I personally find it interesting that Checketts is saying this information now. What are his motives? There is a reason behind everything.
Checketts said that if we make it a few rounds, we will be well into the black. Question is, how many rounds is a few? If we make it to the WCF, maybe it would be enough to allow new ownership to pump some money into the team in the off season.
few rounds is pretty vague. and that worries me. Few implies more than 2. so a minimum of WFC. Thats a terrible way to run a business.
Everything is apart of the sale, so it really doesn't matter IMO. As long as the whole package is making money, then we don't have to worry about our finances.
I personally find it interesting that Checketts is saying this information now. What are his motives? There is a reason behind everything.
Scottrade isnt a part of the sale, just the lease. St. Louis City owns the Scottrade Center.
Scottrade isnt a part of the sale, just the lease. St. Louis City owns the Scottrade Center.
Everything meaning everything that is actually owned by the Checketts group. I know that doesn't include Scottrade, but Peoria and the Opera House are included.
It is preferred that all the entities are in the black individually, but you have to think long-term. As long as the the whole package is in the black right now, that's all that matters. With the expectation of getting consistent playoff revenue, and the safe bet that ticket prices will continue to rise until they reach equilibrium, the Blues will be in the black in the near future.
If the right people come in to run the business side of the Blues, I have complete faith that they can make the Blues profitable, but until then, as long as the whole package that is owned is in the black, ownership will be satisfied or at least content.
few rounds is pretty vague. and that worries me. Few implies more than 2. so a minimum of WFC. Thats a terrible way to run a business.
I mean, it does make sense. The plan all along was a 5 yearish rebuild. We are now about to consistently make the playoffs. I think they were expecting it to happen a year or 2 ago, which didn't happen, and that forced Checketts to sell.
I'm willing to bet that the plan all along was to keep prices low to keep getting fans through the gates. They would eat the financial losses through the early years. By year 4, they probably expected to have a team that would allow them to have significantly higher ticket prices than they had.
With the injuries last season, the plan was set back a year. This season could've been last season, which means they could've put in next season's ticket prices for this season because it would've been justified. With playoff revenue from last season, and higher ticket prices for this season, Checketts probably could've been able to hold onto the team because he would've found other investors.
They maintained the long-term view on the business side, which is extremely important. We are feeling the effects of the injuries last season on the business side this season.
I never had the impression a playoff appearance (or not) was a factor in Towerbrook's decision to divest. The timing of the announcement just doesn't make sense for that.
I never had the impression a playoff appearance (or not) was a factor in Towerbrook's decision to divest. The timing of the announcement just doesn't make sense for that.
Not saying that was a factor, but of course Checketts and Co were expecting some playoff revenue by now. Towerbook would've been out regardless, but finding investors for something already in the black, compared to something that could be in the black if this happens is a whole lot easier.
few rounds is pretty vague. and that worries me. Few implies more than 2. so a minimum of WFC. Thats a terrible way to run a business.
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.
Checketts sold the concession rights for the next 20 years for $10,000,000.00. That is a huge loss of revenue for the team - playoffs and regular season. That is a big negative for any potential ownership group. I can't agree with your assessment of Checketts. He robbed Peter to pay Paul with that deal.
Ouch. That's roughly $12,000/game not including the playoffs. Is that even legal considering he never owned the arena and the team has been for sale? So he stole 20 years of concession revenue AND the opera house was paid for by the Blues. He'll be under investigation soon, at least I hope.
Checketts isn't a criminal, he just shouldn't own a major sports franchise. Ticket prices will get jacked up if they reach round 3, and money won't be an issue. I'm more worried about Stillman' group.
Ouch. That's roughly $12,000/game not including the playoffs. Is that even legal considering he never owned the arena and the team has been for sale? So he stole 20 years of concession revenue AND the opera house was paid for by the Blues. He'll be under investigation soon, at least I hope.
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.
