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| Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2002 3:59 pm Post subject: Alaska's Minor League Hockey Team for Sale on eBay |
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Alaska's Minor League Hockey Team Up for Sale — on eBay
Saturday, June 29, 2002
Associated Press
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Amid the vintage comic books and Elvis memorabilia up for sale on eBay is a truly rare offer, in fact, a first of its kind for the Internet auction site: a minor league hockey team.
Minimum bid: $1.6 million.
Saturday morning, four bidders were vying for ownership of the Anchorage Aces, a financially struggling West Coast Hockey League franchise with an abysmal record.
The eBay site bills the Aces as having a $3.5 million value, but it also mentions the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last month. The team is more than $2 million in debt and owes more than 100 creditors. Last season, it finished with a league-worst 19-44 record.
The highest bid Saturday morning was $2 million, which appeared to meet the team owner's requirements, but the road to sale hasn't been easy. The team got a $2.3 million bid early in the week that turned out to be invalid.
If the franchise finds a new owner through eBay, it would be the first time a sports team has been sold on the site, according to eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove.
A sale would be welcome news for the WCHL, which has given Aces owner Mike Cusack Jr. until Wednesday to find a legitimate buyer, said Barry Kemp, chairman of the WCHL's board of governors.
Because of the bankruptcy, the league can take over rights to the Aces. But that's an action it would prefer to avoid, according to Kemp. He said the eBay posting was an unlikely solution.
"Odds are it would be a difficult way to market and sell a team," Kemp said. "That caveat being said, if a legitimate buyer emerges in this procedure, we could be seeing more professional teams take this method."
Cusack could not immediately be reached for comment.
The earlier invalid bid turned out to come from a college-age prankster. The bogus $2.3 million offer had topped four others and allowed the bidder to use eBay's Buy It Now feature, essentially skipping the timed formalities and instantly ending the auction. The bidding had to start over again.
The top bidder Saturday morning, listed only as chicagoblizt2001, did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.
The offer, if valid, could help pull the Aces out of debt. Another Cusack property, the Northern Lights Hotel, also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.
The Aces, meanwhile, are back in court on Monday for a motion filed by the U.S. Trustee's Office to convert the bankruptcy case to Chapter 7 or to order the appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee. Under Chapter 7, the Aces essentially could be out of business and the Bankruptcy Court could sell the team's assets. A Chapter 11 trustee basically would run the business.
A local group of businessmen has been pursing a deal to buy the team since February, but it is offering between $1 million and $1.5 million, said attorney Dan Coffey. The offer was rejected by KeyBank of Alaska — the only creditor with a lien against the team's stock — because it wouldn't pay off all the team's debt.
Coffey said his group is still hoping to make a deal with Cusack, who has said he wants $2.2 million to $2.3 million for the team.
Any sale would require approval from the WCHL and the bankruptcy court. |
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