Carolina Hurricanes owner looking to sell the team?
By Cory Buck
Carolina Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos isn’t getting any younger, which is why he’d like to start exploring options for eventually selling his NHL franchise. Naturally, he won’t do anything unless he gets the right partner and the right price.
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Karmanos told TSN that he wouldn’t just sell the team outright. Rather, he’d prefer to sell a share of the team, maintain control of operations for a few years, then work out a succession plan with this lucky lady or gentleman. Any investor and future owner would have to buy in on the Hurricanes and the price will be far more than one might expect for an NHL franchise — roughly $420 million.
“I’d like to have a partner again,” Karmanos said, “but someone will have to pay dearly for it. (The Hurricanes are) a valuable franchise despite what some of your folk in Canada say about them. I don’t see a basketball or baseball or football team coming here. We’re going to be the lone ranger here (in Raleigh) for quite some time.”
In addition to market dominance, Karmanos pointed to the sale of the New York Islanders, in which current owner Charles Wang exacted roughly $480 million for his team, to justify the sale point.
The NHL is running about a $3 billion/year revenue stream at this point and the money is only growing. While Forbes has valued franchises like Carolina’s and New York’s closer to $200 million, the last year has taught us that prospective owners clearly don’t subscribe to those figures. Professional sports franchises are rare finds and even a hockey team in Raleigh, where attendance ranked 23rd in the NHL last season, could produce a snug profit for the right owner.
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