More games postponed
NHL Public Relations: Three more games have been postponed.
Wednesday, December 29th
Chicago Blackhawks @ Winnipeg Jets
Dallas Stars @ Colorado Avalanche
Friday, December 31st
Colorado Avalanche @ Dallas Stars
Lightning sign Garrison to AHL PTO
Erik Erlendsson: The Tampa Bay Lightning signed defenseman Jason Garrison to an AHL PTO.
A deal for Lemieux that has worked out well
Joe Pompliano: Mario Lemieux is set to make over $350 million from the $900 million from the sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Fenway Sports Group.
(twitter thread)
“3) Penguins ownership saw their business collapse throughout the 1990s. Revenue crashed while expenses tripled, and with $100M in debt, the team was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1998. Their largest creditor? Mario Lemieux, who was owed over $26 million in deferred salary.
4) But rather than chase pennies on the dollar in court, Mario Lemieux came up with a brilliant solution. Lemieux offered to buy the team with an investor group, financing his part by converting $20M of his deferred salary into equity. Once done, Lemieux owned 25% of the team.
5) Since buying the Penguins in 1999, Mario Lemieux and his ownership group have revitalized the franchise. Annual revenue is up from $55M to $185M, they’ve built a new arena and have locked in lucrative cable deals. Even better? They also won 3 more Stanley Cup trophies.
7) Mario Lemieux increased his equity stake over the years & is expected to stay as a small minority owner after the sale. But at a $900M valuation, that means Lemieux turned his $26M deferred salary into roughly $360M. That makes it one of the best athlete investments ever.
8) Mario Lemieux’s deal to buy the Penguins might seem like a no-brainer now, but that wasn’t always the case. Lemieux found leverage & got creative, incentivizing himself with uncapped upside and turned a bad situation into an incredible investment. As they say, equity is key.”