This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2005, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utah native David Checketts is working to add the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues to his growing list of sports holdings.
The owner of Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake franchise and former president and general manager of the Utah Jazz has entered into a letter of intent to negotiate exclusively with Blues owners Bill and Nancy Laurie for the purchase of the franchise and the lease to the Blues' home arena, the Savvis Center.
Checketts, 49, chairman of Sports Capital Partners, has 30 days in which to broker a deal, which needs approval of the NHL.
In a statement, Blues President Mark Sauer said, "While no sale agreement has been reached, we welcome Sports Capital Partners' interest, and we look forward to working out the details of an agreement that we hope will benefit all involved, including the team and the city of St. Louis."
Checketts, who lives in Connecticut, declined through a spokesman to speak with The Salt Lake Tribune.
Sports Capital Partners is a sports, media and live entertainment company with interests in the MLS, College Sports Television Network, Running Subway Productions and other properties.
"Our business is sports," said Dean Howes, chief executive officer of Sports Capital Partners and of Real Salt Lake. "This fits in the middle of all that."
The possibility of Checketts buying the Blues immediately sparked speculation in St. Louis whether the franchise could be moved elsewhere, including Salt Lake City.
Local sports executives - citing myriad reasons from hockey's lackluster history in the state, a low fan base for the sport, the lack of infrastucture and a small corporate base - said it was unlikely an NHL franchise would find Salt Lake City tenable.
"Like with soccer, it's a question of if there's enough corporate support," said one executive, Dave Elmore, owner of the Utah Grizzlies minor-league hockey team. "There's always enough fans in the area. Everybody gets a piece of the corporate pit.
In Utah ''there aren't a large number of corporations that spend money advertising in sports. It would be very difficult. After the [NHL lockout], we've all got the issue of getting fans back."
In the fall, Forbes magazine valued the St. Louis franchise and the building at $140 million. The magazine reported that the hockey team has lost $225 million since the arena opened in 1994.
The Lauries, billionaires and heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, bought the Blues six years ago and immediately created one of the highest payrolls in the NHL. The Blues reportedly lost $40 million in the two seasons prior to the lockout that scrapped the 2004-2005 season.
Since announcing the team was up for sale, the Lauries have cut payroll and traded players, including defenseman Chris Pronger.
Chuck Menke, director of broadcasting for the Blues, said the team retained 78 percent of its season-ticket holders.
"We find St. Louis is very much a hockey town," he said. "But it is also rich in hockey tradition. We have a hard-core fan base."
Recently, only 10,000 fans attended the team's preseason home-opener. The building holds more than 19,000.
Game Plan LLC, a Boston-based firm that specializes in professional sports franchise transactions and once tried to buy the entire NHL for $4.3 billion, was retained by the Lauries to sell the Blues and the lease. Game Plan LLC valued the Blues at $68 million.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Lauries bought the Blues for $88 million, and also paid off the team's $30 million debt. Part of the purchase price included $62.4 million owed on bonds outstanding on the building.
The lease ensures bond holders that a professional sports franchise will play in the Savvis Center. Whoever owns the Blues will be unable to restructure the debt service on the bonds, which acts as a mortgage on the building.
This year, the payments jump from $4.9 million to $7.3 million. The lease expires in 2024.
The NHL had no official comment on any franchise financial transactions, only to say that it would take months for the NHL Board of Governors to finalize any agreement reached between the Lauries and Checketts.
The structure of the lease makes it nearly impossible for Checketts to move the team.
"I think this will be great for the franchise, the city, the fans, knowing the team will be here," Blues senior vice president and general manager Larry Pleau said.
"I don't think there's any indication of [Checketts moving the team to Salt Lake City] at all," said Sports Capital Partners' Howes.
Checketts was 28 and the youngest chief executive in NBA history when he became president and general manager of the Utah Jazz in 1983. In 1991, he became president of the New York Knicks as well as president and chief executive officer of Madison Square Garden from 1994 to 2001.
Madison Square Garden owns the New York Rangers, New York Knicks, New York Liberty, Madison Square Garden (the arena), the MSG television network and Radio City Music Hall.
In 2001, Checketts founded Sports Capital Partners, which acquired SportsWest Communications a year later.
---
Tribune staff writer Peter Richins contributed to this story.
The deal at a glance
* Utah native David Checketts has 30 days to exclusively negotiate the purchase of the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues and the club's lease at the Savvis Center. The deal then will need approval of the NHL.
* The 49-year-old Checketts is chairman of Sports Capital Partners, a sports, media and live entertainment company that owns the Real Salt Lake soccer team, among other things.
The David Checketts file
* A Utah native, Checketts attended the University of Utah and received a master's degree in business administration from Brigham Young University. He is 49 years old and lives in Connecticut.
* In 1984, became president and general manager of the Utah Jazz at age 28, the youngest chief executive in NBA history.
* Became president of the New York Knicks in 1991. Went on to become president and chief executive officer of Madison Square Garden, the company that owns the New York Rangers, Knicks, Liberty, Madison Square Garden and the MSG television network.
* Founded Sports Capital Partners in September 2001, the firm that acquired SportsWest Communications in 2002.
* Brought Major League Soccer to Utah in expansion team Real Salt Lake, which is wrapping up its first season.