News Article: Lebreton

[Big Muddy]

Melnyk’s net worth was around $1B - not $2B.

However, the bigger thing is to have an owner (or owners) who have other massive sources of revenues where they aren’t relying on their sports franchise to keep them afloat. Melnyk was no longer in this position once BioVail when down the drain and he became cheap once that company was out of the picture. He no longer had another major source of revenue and could no longer blow money on his sports club.

OK, 1.2 B - just googled it. Like I said, I was just "going from memory" (key words) and didn't feel like looking it up.

Anyhow, rather than trusting my memory (which can be crappy at times), here's a few articles that list wealth of various NHL owners. Melnyk is basically middle of the pack.

The 23 richest billionaire NHL franchise owners — and how they made their fortune

These are the richest men and women running the National Hockey League (NHL), the world's premier ice hockey division.

www.businessinsider.com

The 15 richest billionaire NHL club owners, and how they made their fortune

Pizza, real estate, and communications are just some of the ways in which the NFL's richest billionaire owners have made their money.

www.businessinsider.com

How much money do Canadian NHL Team Owners Make? | Branded Voices | Advertise

Branded Voices features content from our marketing partners. Articles are not created by Native News Online staff and do not reflect the views and opinions expressed in the Branded Voices are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Native News...

nativenewsonline.net

 

[IpsoPostFacto]

OK, 1.2 B - just googled it. Like I said, I was just "going from memory" (key words) and didn't feel like looking it up.

Anyhow, rather than trusting my memory (which can be crappy at times), here's a few articles that list wealth of various NHL owners. Melnyk is basically middle of the pack.

The 23 richest billionaire NHL franchise owners — and how they made their fortune

These are the richest men and women running the National Hockey League (NHL), the world's premier ice hockey division.

www.businessinsider.com

The 15 richest billionaire NHL club owners, and how they made their fortune

Pizza, real estate, and communications are just some of the ways in which the NFL's richest billionaire owners have made their money.

www.businessinsider.com

How much money do Canadian NHL Team Owners Make? | Branded Voices | Advertise

Branded Voices features content from our marketing partners. Articles are not created by Native News Online staff and do not reflect the views and opinions expressed in the Branded Voices are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Native News...

nativenewsonline.net

am I looking at the wrong numbers here? how is Melnyk at 1.2B in the middle of any pack from these articles. the only one where he isn't last (if he even appears) has Leonsis at 1B. I don't know if we can assume that those not on the "23 richest" are worth less, or just don't make it to the article for any number of reasons from nobody knows to crappy journalism.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

I keep reminding people, that the Senators expenses are around 90% in USD, and their revenues are about 90% in CAD……

 

[Big Muddy]

am I looking at the wrong numbers here? how is Melnyk at 1.2B in the middle of any pack from these articles. the only one where he isn't last (if he even appears) has Leonsis at 1B. I don't know if we can assume that those not on the "23 richest" are worth less, or just don't make it to the article for any number of reasons from nobody knows to crappy journalism.

In one of the articles (Alan Dawson, 2018), he is #19.

In "The 15 richest billionaire NHL club owners", he's not even listed.​

One article just looked at "Canadian" NHL Teams. He was last in that one.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

Alfie will never be part of ownership.

He will be part of the organization

 

[JD1]

Alfie will never be part of ownership.

He will be part of the organization

I agree with this

The absolute last thing I'm doing if I am Alfie is putting a good chunk of what I earned up to help buy the Sens. Employed at a real nice wage? Absolutely. But kicking money in? That's risky.

 

[NorthCoast]

I keep reminding people, that the Senators expenses are around 90% in USD, and their revenues are about 90% in CAD……

Almost all of those numbers are guesses based upon guesses. I would not pay any heed to them'

assennayo

Really? Like which ones.

All the broadcast deals are public.
The sens have been quoted saying Gate rev is 35-40% of total HRR.
Playoff rev has been quoted.

The only major number not know for sure is the debt. But again, a lot of educated guesses.

 

[NorthCoast]

Melnyk’s net worth was around $1B - not $2B.

However, the bigger thing is to have an owner (or owners) who have other massive sources of revenues where they aren’t relying on their sports franchise to keep them afloat. Melnyk was no longer in this position once BioVail when down the drain and he became cheap once that company was out of the picture. He no longer had another major source of revenue and could no longer blow money on his sports club.

Richer does not necessarily mean they have a higher tolerance for risk. Which unless you are talking some Oligarch comes in and funds it as a toy without any consequence for losses. But that's probably not happening.

Good owners don't have to be rich, they just have to be smart enough to get good access to capital if they don't have it, and then make the right investments so that both them and their lenders/partners, come out on top.

I keep repeating the same line.

If Ottawa invest in 1) players, 2) marketing, 3) stadium, correctly, it will see Playoff, Gate, Valuation returns. There is no reason a city that will grow to 1.5 mil over the next 20 or so years cannot compete on level with other small and mid-market clubs. (Calgary, Edmonton, Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Winnipeg, etc. etc. ) This means being able to fund a team to the cap while in a window where it see some level of playoff revenue. Is this level of competitiveness enough to win a cup? It should be...and if it isn't then it's a league problem, not an Ottawa problem.

 

[Masked]

Really? Like which ones.

All the broadcast deals are public.
The sens have been quoted saying Gate rev is 35-40% of total HRR.
Playoff rev has been quoted.

The only major number not know for sure is the debt. But again, a lot of educated guesses.

The broadcast deals are not public. There were announced total amounts but there was never a break down on a year by year basis other than that it escalated.

Gate is an estimate from Forbes which does not have access to the financial records.
Parking, concessions, etc is not really stated where it comes from which leads to believe its made up.
Player expenses is another estimation from Forbes.
Other expenses appears to be made up.
EBITDA is another Forbes estimate.
Interest (on debt) is another Forbes estimate.
The value of the building and depreciation on it appears to be estimated from nowhere in particular.

Other than the share of the expansion fee, there is no real accurate number.

Assen na yo

 

[bert]

I would guess the debt load is between 300 and 400 million so there is some serious profit available if they decide to sell. I am also skeptical how comfortable a lender would be with two young people managing an asset and this much debt owed. They likely would be trying to push for and facilitate a sale.

 

[DaveMatthew]

I would guess the debt load is between 300 and 400 million so there is some serious profit available if they decide to sell. I am also skeptical how comfortable a lender would be with two young people managing an asset and this much debt owed. They likely would be trying to push for and facilitate a sale.

There will no doubt be a sale. Usually when an owner passes and the family plans to keep a franchise, a statement is made relatively quickly about the direction, from both the family and the league.

In this case, we know that Melnyk's passing was not sudden, so there is 100% a plan in place, and yet we haven't heard anything from the daughters or Bettman.

That leads me to believe that the wheels on a sale are already in motion, and probably were before Melnyk's death. There's no way he left his early 20's daughters to figure out what to do with a $600+M asset themselves.

If they planned on keep the team, I think we would have already heard that that's what was happening. If there's anything Bettman hates, it's speculation/rumors about ownership and whether teams are for sale or not. If the team wasn't for sale, he'd say so.

 

[Mingus Dew]

I would guess the debt load is between 300 and 400 million so there is some serious profit available if they decide to sell. I am also skeptical how comfortable a lender would be with two young people managing an asset and this much debt owed. They likely would be trying to push for and facilitate a sale.

Not really up to the lender if there's no default but I'm sure they'd prefer more stable ownership with better net worth.

 

[bert]

Not really up to the lender if there's no default but I'm sure they'd prefer more stable ownership with better net worth.

There are terms in the loan for sure the lender could absolutely push for a sale. His passing may have activated some of those stipulations if this were to happen. It depends on the loan but in certain instances they can call it.

 

[Mingus Dew]

There are terms in the loan for sure the lender could absolutely push for a sale. His passing may have activated some of those stipulations if this were to happen. It depends on the loan but in certain instances they can call it.

Yeah I suppose if there's a key man or something but usually you'd build in estate planning carveouts.

 

[Adele Dazeem]

There will no doubt be a sale. Usually when an owner passes and the family plans to keep a franchise, a statement is made relatively quickly about the direction, from both the family and the league.

In this case, we know that Melnyk's passing was not sudden, so there is 100% a plan in place, and yet we haven't heard anything from the daughters or Bettman.

That leads me to believe that the wheels on a sale are already in motion, and probably were before Melnyk's death. There's no way he left his early 20's daughters to figure out what to do with a $600+M asset themselves.

If they planned on keep the team, I think we would have already heard that that's what was happening. If there's anything Bettman hates, it's speculation/rumors about ownership and whether teams are for sale or not. If the team wasn't for sale, he'd say so.

I think we could hear of new ownership as early as next month. I'd be surprised if there isn't new owners by the start of the season; although with the way the world's economy is looking - might take longer than expected.

 

[Butchy Dakkar]

What was up with Bruce's comments in the intermission yesterday? I thought silence is golden. "The only credible bid can be the one the Senators submitted, because, well, they own the team" (or something to that effect) sounds an awful lot like negotiation through the media. He even said that if the Sens weren't the successful bidders then he expects that information will leak out during the exclusive negotiation period, because public consultation suggests "everyone" wants the Sens there..

Maybe I'm reading too much into the comments.

 

[JimmySpaetzle]

What was up with Bruce's comments in the intermission yesterday? I thought silence is golden. "The only credible bid can be the one the Senators submitted, because, well, they own the team" (or something to that effect) sounds an awful lot like negotiation through the media. He even said that if the Sens weren't the successful bidders then he expects that information will leak out during the exclusive negotiation period, because public consultation suggests "everyone" wants the Sens there..

Maybe I'm reading too much into the comments.

Screw Bruce is all I have to say

 

[DueDiligence]

The broadcast deals are not public. There were announced total amounts but there was never a break down on a year by year basis other than that it escalated.

Gate is an estimate from Forbes which does not have access to the financial records.
Parking, concessions, etc is not really stated where it comes from which leads to believe its made up.
Player expenses is another estimation from Forbes.
Other expenses appears to be made up.
EBITDA is another Forbes estimate.
Interest (on debt) is another Forbes estimate.
The value of the building and depreciation on it appears to be estimated from nowhere in particular.

Other than the share of the expansion fee, there is no real accurate number.

Assen na yo

You make sound like Forbes is some community newspaper not a preeminent financial magazine. And they do have some credibility as well!

 

[Masked]

You make sound like Forbes is some community newspaper not a preeminent financial magazine. And they do have some credibility as well!

Forbes has no access to the NHL's financial statements. They're just guessing at the numbers based upon limited public information.

Assen na yo

 

[Wondercarrot]

The only way Melnyk was worth anywhere near $1.2 billion is if the Sens are valued at $800-900 million and discounting the debt.
That would leave him a few hundred million in “other assets”.
The odds of those assets (if they exist) being something remotely liquid are slim given how he used the Sens as ATM machine then refinanced regularly to ‘replenish’

If I were a betting man I’d say he has the team, and max $300 million in other assets.

 

[Micklebot]

Forbes has no access to the NHL's financial statements. They're just guessing at the numbers based upon limited public information.

Assen na yo

Well, yes and no. They aren't getting financial statements, but they are reaching out to the teams and getting some info (whatever they are willing to share) direct from the source. They also reach out to sports bankers and media consultants who may have some info not in the public realm.

There's certainly some guesswork but it's an educated guess.

 

[AchtzehnBaby]

I think we could hear of new ownership as early as next month. I'd be surprised if there isn't new owners by the start of the season; although with the way the world's economy is looking - might take longer than expected.

Doubtful the Estate is not even settled yet.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

Has it been documented anywhere how long Melnyk was known to be terminally ill?

I've long assumed that an ownership transfer (either to his daughters, or a new owner) would have been in the works for a while now simply from being a liver donor recipient and the low life expectancy, but the way it's been presented so far makes it sound like more of a couple month long process, granted information has been sparse.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

There had been plenty of rumours that he was not doing well going back to last season I believe.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

There had been plenty of rumours that he was not doing well going back to last season I believe.

That rings a bell.