Monthly Archives: November 2009

11.18.09
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SVSE negotiating with A’s over Diridon

December’s Forbes magazine has a feature piece on the Sharks and Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment, the umbrella organization that owns the team and runs HP Pavilion. The magazine praises SVSE for keeping debt manageable while expanding its holdings, making the company not beholden to a single income source.

Of SVSE’s revenue of $155 million, NHL hockey brings in $84 million. The rest comes from things like a chain of ice rinks, three professional tennis tournaments, a mixed martial arts circuit and an apparel company. Last year the team’s hockey operations lost $5 million, but the profits from the other businesses cut that loss to an estimated $2 million. Gregory Jamison, a Sharks co-owner who’s in charge of day-to-day operations, sees the combined businesses turning a profit in two to three years.

Much has been made over the NHL’s floundering expansion ventures in the Sun Belt, especially the efforts in Phoenix, Atlanta, and the state of Florida. The Sharks/SVSE have defied the Sun Belt pattern of attendance and cash flow problems, partly by controlling its own venue. It has also stayed out of the scandal-ridden front pages, something that can’t be said for ownership in Anaheim, Phoenix, and Nashville.


The article also touches briefly on SVSE’s other major sports dealings:

The Sharks’ owners have been pursuing a National Basketball Association franchise for years, too. San Jose Mayor Chuck R. Reed tells FORBES that the arena lease will be amended this month to outline contingencies in case their efforts are successful. The group is also in discussions with the owners of baseball’s Oakland A’s to find common ground on a proposed ballpark in the area and to possibly buy into their Major League Soccer team, the San Jose Earthquakes. Even without these acquisitions SVSE officials expect the nonhockey side of the business to surpass the hockey side next year.

In the past I described the “common ground” as a deal to run an A’s ballpark, creating a monopoly position for SVSE with regards to large venues in the South Bay. Considering how tight many of the SVSE players and members of A’s ownership have been historically, the next logical step may be for the A’s to sell a minority position to SVSE, say 10-20%. Such a deal could be consummated fairly easily and would make sense in the long run, since there’s a precedent given that venue monster AEG operates in a similar fashion. For now, the discussions are probably more about how to figure out parking and develop the six blocks between the ballpark site and the arena, but it’s not a stretch to think that the talks may be even deeper. It’s a far cry from when the original ballpark EIR came out in 2006. At the time, the Sharks expressed disapproval over the concept due to parking concerns. Now that the team is no longer “hypothetical” and includes political and business friends, SVSE is looking for ways to take advantage of the situation.

All of this can be summed up in three simple words: Follow the money.
11.13.09
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Got eight figures lying around?

Today you may have the unique opportunity to buy a piece of history. Whether you’re local or of a national bent, the opportunities await you – though you may have less than two hours to take advantage.


I’ve been following the saga of the Fox Theatre in Redwood City (not Oakland’s Fox Theater) for a few months. A pair of real estate developers, John Anagnostou and Mike Monte, bought the 1400-seat Gothic Revival moviehouse and thoroughly renovated it, turning the place into an excellent live music venue. They also created a smaller 200-seat bar/cabaret within the same complex called the Little Fox. Rumors that Redwood City would buy the theatre were largely squashed as city officials indicated that budget woes would make such a purchase imprudent. Fox Theatre has additional office space and retail spaces along its Broadway frontage, making it a multifaceted venue. According to assessors, the place is worth $2.35 million, but the current owners took on a ton of debt to renovate it. While media reports don’t have an exact figure, the total debt is said to be $10 million to multiple creditors. That amount has probably caused interested parties to balk at a purchase. A twice-delayed foreclosure auction is supposed to happen today, though it could be delayed again as the developers continue to try to work out some kind of refinancing plan with their creditors.

If your horizons aren’t limited to the Bay Area or the Peninsula, you might want to set your sights on Pontiac, Michigan. The once-impressive Silverdome is also up for auction, with the city trying to fetch at least $13.2 million for the 80,000-seat indoor stadium. Once home to both for the Lions and Pistons, the Silverdome has also hosted several major events, including NCAA hoops regionals (though not the Final Four). The City of Pontiac wants the $1.5 million per year maintenance bill albatross off its back, and it’s hoping that some smart developer will figure out a way to spur growth in the area. One unusual idea by an area citizen would turn the dome into a massive youth sports facility. The dome currently has no tenants. City police have been investigating thefts inside the stadium.

Update: The Fox Theatre auction was delayed yet again.
Update 2 (11/17): The Silverdome was sold for $583,000. No, I am not missing zeroes on that figure. The median home price of a home in San Jose is $566,000, in Alameda County it’s $357,000, and in San Francisco it’s $662,000.
11.05.09
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West Oakland murmurs

I’ll start off with a brief chunk from Chip Johnson’s Tuesday column.

And even though she is among the first 200 residents to live at Central Station, mere rumors about A’s owner Lew Wolff sniffing around Middle Harbor for a new ballpark site have her already concerned about growth.
Area residents don’t need me to point out where Middle Harbor is. For those who aren’t familiar, it’s the westernmost end of West Oakland. Geographically it’s situated between the Bay Bridge to the north and the old Alameda Naval Air Station to the south.

I’m curious to see if a ballpark proposal has Middle Harbor as the site. Ever since the military closed up shop there, a combination of business (port expansion) and environmental efforts (wetlands regeneration) has been the ongoing concern. It’s hard to say where a ballpark could go or what a plan would entail. West Oakland BART is over a mile 2 miles away and around Middle Harbor the train line descends before becoming the Transbay Tube, making a new station a tall order. And there’s the worry that the area is in Nancy Nadel’s district, and she’s well known for not putting the A’s anywhere on her priority list.

Still, I’d like to see if there’s anything to this, if for no other reason than to see what opportunities are out there.
11.04.09
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As the ball turns

I encourage all of you to head on over to Dodger Divorce, a new blog run by Joshua Fisher dedicated to the messy financial status of the LA Dodgers. It’s not salacious. Instead, it gives incredible insight into how a particular ownership group assumed control of one of the major name brand franchises in MLB, and how the whole thing isn’t going to end well.

When the McCourts acquired the Dodgers in 2003, much was made about how Frank McCourt wasn’t a big-money billionaire, derisively called the “parking lot attendant.” The heavy leveraging used to acquire the team would’ve been fine as long as the family remained status quo. Unfortunately for Mr. McCourt (and John Moores), even the best laid plans go to waste.