TORONTO — The president of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is laughing off British press reports of a 250-million pound bid for English Premier League side Tottenham.
“It's complete fiction,” Richard Peddie said Monday. “We're not interested in Tottenham at all.
“It's got a great history, obviously a very competitive team, I have admiration for what they've done and what they can do, but it's not on our watch list at all.”
The sensational Sunday tabloid News of the World and more mainstream Daily Mail reported that MLSE was prepared to pay 250 million pounds (C$504 million) for Spurs, but that club chairman Daniel Levy was looking for 400 million pounds (C$806 million) to sell.
“That's a club we're not interested in,” repeated Peddie. “To even speculate whether we're going to buy or not buy (any Premier League team) is premature.”
Talk of MLSE's interest in pursuing a Premiership side began shortly after Peddie and chief financial officer Ian Clarke returned from a trip to learn about soccer in England.
During the visit, they met with officials from Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and Reading, watched games at Tottenham and Chelsea and attended a soccer business convention.
The sports giant already owns Toronto FC of Major League Soccer along with the NHL's Maple Leafs, NBA's Raptors and AHL's Marlies.
“I see why people and companies are interested in the soccer in the UK, I understand that,” said Peddie. “But to say we're — other than an interest that is more about learning — interested in investment is premature.”
Although MLSE's value is estimated at $1.75 billion, raising the capital needed for such a venture would be no simple task. Borrowing large amounts of money the way Malcolm Glazer did in his 2005 purchase of Manchester United is much less feasible now given that capital isn't as readily available and comes with higher interest rates.
A marketing partnership like the one forged by Arsenal and the Colorado Rapids of the MLS is a simpler option, although making it worthwhile is the challenge.
“That's always a possibility that's being done out there,” said Peddie. “I'm not sure if you go and look at those marketing sponsorships whether there's any real meat to them. We only want to do something that really has benefit to both parties.
“How do you make them meaningful? Maybe you need some ownership positions in the company. We haven't gone there yet. Our soccer expertise is now about 14 months old.”
Tottenham is seen as a likely target for a takeover because ENIC International Ltd, which owns 66.8 per cent of the company, is the club's largest shareholder and may be ready to sell.
Spurs are looking to build a new stadium to replace the 36,000-seat White Hart Lane, which they've been in since 1899. A new building would help them keep pace with London rivals Arsenal (Emirates seats 60,000) and Chelsea (Stamford Bridge seats 42,000).
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