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Jeff Sherrin, Oren Koules and Doug MacLean (left to right) hold up jerseys bearing their names during a news conference to announce the sale of the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa on Tuesday. (Michael C. Weimar/Reuters)
The seed was first planted as Doug MacLean and his friend and business partner, Jeff Sherrin, watched the last game of the Stanley Cup final together in June.
What would it take, they wondered, to put together an NHL ownership group and buy a team? By the following Monday a call was placed to a New York brokerage and within a week or so talks were under way.
A little over two weeks later, the former Columbus Blue Jackets president and general manager had a group together with a signed letter of intent to buy the Tampa Bay Lightning.
And yesterday, in a deal that was kept absolutely silent over the past two months, MacLean and his partners announced they had a purchase and sale agreement which, if approved by the NHL board of governors, could make them the Lightning owners by the start of the season.
"The last seven weeks have been absolutely incredible," MacLean said. "I knew Tampa had been for sale in February and then went off the market. So I said let's touch base and see if it's for sale again. That's when it started."
The deal includes lease rights at the St. Pete Times Forum, which gives the new owners control over the entertainment side of the business, as well as six acres of real estate adjacent to the arena.
While MacLean said his group will not reveal its purchase price until after it's approved, it is believed to be in excess of $200-million (all currency U.S.). Davidson bought the club, the rights to the lease and the land from Art Williams for a figure reported at $115-million in June of 1999.
As for potential relocation, MacLean said the group has no interest in moving the franchise, even though outgoing owner Bill Davidson has claimed losses of $70-million over the span of his ownership.
Under Davidson, who also owns the NBA's Detroit Pistons, the Lightning became one of the more successful NHL franchises in the Sunbelt, capped by winning the Stanley Cup in 2004. It will be MacLean's challenge to convert the team's support into profitability with a salary cap that now exceeds $50-million a team.
"They're No. 3 in attendance in the U.S. at 19,700 per game and we think it's a great market that exploded," MacLean said. "We never thought about moving the team. I think the economics are solid because the revenues are there. This team has strong revenues. They were losing money when the league was losing $200-million but with the new collective agreement the times are better. It's not easy and we've got our challenges but it has been trending in a positive way."
The new ownership group involves nine or 10 principal owners, one of whom is Los Angeles movie and television producer Oren Koules, a Chicago native who played junior and minor pro hockey.
MacLean, a native of Summerside, PEI, coached the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup final in 1996 and later was hired as both president and general manager of the Columbus Blue Jackets. He also coached for a time in Columbus before being fired from his executive duties this past April.
Yesterday, he threw his support behind Tampa Bay general manager Jay Feaster and head coach John Tortorella, who have four and two years remaining, respectively, on their contracts. But as a former NHL head coach and general manager, MacLean plans to be a hands-on executive.
"Jeff and I will be co-chairs and we'll both move here and work," he said. "It's going to be different than a typical ownership group because it's an active group."
News of the deal was kept completely secret in part because Davidson insisted on complete confidentiality.
That made things quite challenging for MacLean, whose own mother and agent were both out of the loop as to what he was up to.
"The biggest challenge was the confidentiality of it. We put the word out through the grapevine and I heard about people who might be interested. We talked to them and then asked them to sign confidentiality agreements [and then] we gave them the information on the team. Seven weeks and not one word got out."
"I had business meetings to which I was flying and camouflaging it by saying it had to do with job interviews. I told my mother two days ago that it was Tampa Bay and said 'You can't tell anyone.' "
By the numbers
$70-million
Loses claimed by outgoing owner Bill Davidson since buying the team in June of 1999.
$115-million
Amount that Davidson paid for the Lightning in 1999.
19,876
Average attendance at Lightning games last season, third best in the NHL.
2004
Year the Lightning won the Stanley Cup.
(All currency U.S.)
