I used to be an owner of the Boston Celtics.
It was a limited partnership NYSE traded stock. We owned 500 shares. At some point in the 90's they dissolved the partnership and we were cashed out. We made a decent return on it though.
Get to know an NBA owner!
- Thread starter r_u_s_t_b_u_c_k_e_t
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I used to be an owner of the Boston Celtics.
It was a limited partnership NYSE traded stock. We owned 500 shares. At some point in the 90's they dissolved the partnership and we were cashed out. We made a decent return on it though.
Joe Bagadonuts
Well-Known Member
Time for a one paragraph expose on you. You're clearly a capitalist and that means you have some nasty skeletons in your closet. How many tax dollars are you costing the government by taking advantage of legal loopholes? Who is the "we" that you speak of? What environmentally unfriendly businesses have you exploited to amass your fortune? What have you done to cheat the system? C'mon. Spill the beans.
And... we're back! The next owner we will get to know is Rich DeVos of the Orlando Magic. Mister DeVos is a cofounder of Amway, the largest "network marketing" company in the world. His position at the top of the Amway pyramid has "earned" him an estimated $4.2 billion fortune.
Amway and the Orlando Magic have been the recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks from both federal and local governments. The Orlando Magic debuted in 1989 at the Orlando Arena, which was financed entirely by local government at a cost of $195 million (in 2011 dollars). Within just a few years, Mister DeVos deemed the building obsolete and began campaigning for a new arena. Eventually he threatened to move the team to another city. In 2006, local government approved the building of a new arena for the team. The brand new "Amway Center" was completed in 2010 at a cost of $480 million, of which $50 million was contributed by Mister DeVos. The remaining cost of the building was financed by the public. The 22-year old, since-renamed "Amway Arena" is slated for demolition later this year.
Mister DeVos and his family are avid Republicans and have contributed millions of dollars to the party over the years.
Amway and the Orlando Magic have been the recipients of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks from both federal and local governments. The Orlando Magic debuted in 1989 at the Orlando Arena, which was financed entirely by local government at a cost of $195 million (in 2011 dollars). Within just a few years, Mister DeVos deemed the building obsolete and began campaigning for a new arena. Eventually he threatened to move the team to another city. In 2006, local government approved the building of a new arena for the team. The brand new "Amway Center" was completed in 2010 at a cost of $480 million, of which $50 million was contributed by Mister DeVos. The remaining cost of the building was financed by the public. The 22-year old, since-renamed "Amway Arena" is slated for demolition later this year.
Mister DeVos and his family are avid Republicans and have contributed millions of dollars to the party over the years.
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Sorry for quoting myself, but this reminds me of a display I saw a few years ago at the Space Needle in Seattle. Up on the observation deck there is an arrow, or something, pointing out the site of the old Kingdome.
For those of you who don't know, the Kingdome was replaced by two stadiums, the Mariners' Safeco Field and the Seahawks' CenturyLink Field. The Mariners are owned by Nintendo of America (total assets of $1.6 trillion). The Seahawks are owned by Paul Allen (net worth of billions of dollars). Both of the new stadiums were financed by the public, for more than $700 million.
It is no wonder that the Sonics plea for a new arena was rejected by the voters.
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GOP-ers/Tea-partiers/whoever those of you are that see nothing wrong with "taking advantage of legal loopholes":
How do you feel about teams using (see also: demanding) public money to build their stadiums on top of their need to pad their profit margins by skirting taxes to people with less money? All good? Let them do what they want?
The players that earn nearly all of the revenue for the teams and wanting (marginally) more than half of that are such slimy, greedy jerks.
I'll be sitting here waving my little american flag.
How do you feel about teams using (see also: demanding) public money to build their stadiums on top of their need to pad their profit margins by skirting taxes to people with less money? All good? Let them do what they want?
The players that earn nearly all of the revenue for the teams and wanting (marginally) more than half of that are such slimy, greedy jerks.
I'll be sitting here waving my little american flag.
You don't think the financial situation of ownership is relevant to the negotiation?
Oh, look what we have here! Another NBA owner! He is Aubrey McClendon of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Mister McClendon has accrued his $1.2 billion fortune working for Chesapeake Energy. He was the highest compensated CEO of any S&P company in 2008, earning $112 million in that year alone. Chesapeake Energy's business involves hydraulic fracture extraction of natural gas in shale, or "fracking". The fracking business has been described as the "new Enron" and a "giant Ponzi scheme". Natural gas extraction companies have been accused of overstating both the amount of shale gas reserves and the profitability of the final product. In 2004, Mister McClendon made a $250,000 contribution to the "Swift Vets and POWs for Truth", a group opposed to the presidential candidacy of John Kerry. The group accused Kerry of being dishonest about his service in Vietnam.
Sneakers
Well-Known Member
I guess there's two sides to the negotiations - the "bottom line" aspect (which I guess concerns the revenue split) and the basketball "league" related rules and adjustments. So touche, I guess that's fair with respect to the former. However, I just feel as if any issue the owner's are taking with "revenue" are actually just symptomatic of larger issues they have with the way the league is being run. To me it comes down to the basketball. Why else would these obviously rich owners be making such a stink? Its the basketball context.
GVC
Well-Known Member
Or because they've had lots of experience minimizing risk and increasing profits by leveraging their position of strength for public handouts and concessions from just about everyone.