Dallas Sports Team Owner Folly

Many from North Texas know of Tom Hicks and the Hicks Sports Group. BRUCE SCHOENFELD, has written and excellent article about Mr. Hicks and the ups and downs of his career and his ownership of the Dallas Stars, Texas Rangers, and Liverpool FC in the U.K. The story appears in the Sports Business Journal and paints an interesting picture of the individual who has won a Stanley Cup in 1999 and competed in the MLB playoffs as a Division Winner in 1996 and 1999.
ESPN Dallas writer Richard Durrett writes, "Hicks Sports Group was forced to sell majority stake in the club after defaulting on a $525 million loan early last year. Major League Baseball eventually had to step in and infuse some money into the club."

Schoenfeld writes, "The Rangers are now in limbo as MLB and a potential new ownership group fronted by Chuck Greenberg attempt to convince creditors to allow Hicks to close a sale with a purchaser who may not be the highest bidder. The Stars are also likely to be sold soon, which would please the NHL. “The feeling in the league office is that the problem isn’t the market, it’s Hicks,” said a league insider, who has served as an executive with several teams, of the declining revenue in Dallas. “He needs to be gone.”"

Hicks ownership style and method of purchasing and funding his sports teams has proven to be a joke and the down turn in the economy starting in 2008 has surely contributed to the struggles of the teams. But the struggles are not related to the fans but instead of how the deals were structured using debt. Hicks comments on this in the Sports Business Journal, "By using debt to acquire all three franchises in the manner of a leveraged buyout, Hicks’ exit strategy was always going to be to sell them. Professional sports teams aren’t likely to generate enough profit to even service such debt, let alone pay it down. “This was never going to be a dynastic asset,” Hicks told SportsBusiness Journal last month."

As a huge Rangers fan I hope that the Rangers are sold soon so that the Rangers can be more flexible to make roster changes as needed without as much concern for the ledger. Come on MLB take control of the team and close this deal. Please!

Dallas Sports Big Night

Last night Thursday April 10 was a big night for Dallas sports teams. The Stars played their first playoff game of 2008, the Mavericks played another must win game to ensure a playoff birth and the Rangers attempted to get above .500 for the first time in, second year manager, Ron Washington's tenure. And the Masters kicked off.

The Stars played a tough game and shutdown and shutout the Ducks to win game one of their play off series 4-0. All the scoring occurred on power plays which are a true strength of this team. The game was very physical and the Stars never backed down.

The Mavericks won in the final seconds with a three pointer by Dirk. The fact that he was wide open for the three amazed me. It just goes to show that very little defense is played in the NBA.

The Rangers played a double header to make up for the game that was canceled the previous day due to weather. Kevin Millwood started game one and looked great. His ERA is 1.29. Wow, that's definately what the Rangers need. Not only was the pitching good, but when the batters got on base they were moving. Ian Kinsler and Michael Young both stole bases which lead to a run in the first inning and 2 runs in the 7th. The top of the order really produced and that's what this team needs.

The Masters also started play and of course all eyes were on Tiger. It was great to watch and ESPN did a great job with their coverage in HD. The Masters in HD is awesome! The white sand bunkers are incredible and cut of the grass is evident, it's truely amazing how good HD is when it is done correctly. I was excited to hear David Feherty calling the play at 15 I really enjoy his comments, and he's a really funny guy. Tiger played an even par 18 and had no birdies, one eagle, and two bogeys. The leader after day one was Justin Rose at 4 under par. I expect the leaders to be around 6 or 7 under par after round 2. Don't count Tiger out and watch out for the current champion Zach Johnson. Even if you don't like to watch golf on TV you really need to find an HD TV and watch just a few minutes of the coverage on ESPN/CBS.

Have a great weekend and go sports!