According to multiple reports including Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg, Chuck Greenberg has signed a letter of intent to purchase the Carolina Hurricanes for $500MM. Greenberg is the former part-owner and CEO of the MLB’s Texas Rangers, and according to Soshnick he would not attempt to move the Hurricanes out of North Carolina.
The rumored $500MM price tag is the same fee that the expansion Vegas Golden Knights paid for their franchise, but more than double what Forbes valued them at in 2016 when they ranked them last among NHL franchises. Though pure value is rarely the selling price, this would be a huge investment on Greenberg’s part and one that will come to a shock to many. The current owner, Peter Karmanos said in January that he was open to selling the entire franchise and that he’d been looking for at least partial buyers for a while. It seems he may have found his man in Greenberg, who comes in with plenty of sports franchise experience.
Greenberg Sports Group currently owns three minor league baseball teams, and Greenberg himself was owned a part of the Texas Rangers along with Nolan Ryan from 2010-2011. He was also an attorney on the acquisition of the Pittsburgh Penguins by Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux, an ownership that was examined in great detail this morning.
The Hurricanes released a statement on the offer:
Since an offer has been made to purchase the team, Mr. Karmanos intends to evaluate that offer and also will continue to evaluate his other options, including retaining his ownership of the team.
It will be interesting to see if the deal goes through, and what immediately happens to the Hurricanes. They’re currently being managed quite well in terms of hockey operations by NHL legend Ron Francis, though they still haven’t been able to find much financial success. Carolina ranked dead last in terms of average attendance last season with less than 12,000 per game, a figure that was nearly half of what the Chicago Blackhawks reported. While there are other ways to keep a sports franchise afloat financially, most of it stems from fan loyalty and excitement, something Carolina has had trouble with over the years.
are we getting the whalers or nordiques back?
If he does move the Hurricanes it would probably be to Charlotte. Raleigh is too much of a college town and most college students don’t have the kind of money to go to an NHL game.
Sweet! So happy we will have a committed owner…..hopefully he will want to open the pocketbook!
Looking forward to a bright future in Raleigh!
He and Mario Lemieux once owned the AA affiliate of the Pirates in Altoona, PA.
By all accounts, he would be a huge upgrade over Karamanos.