When will the St. Louis Blues ownership situation be resolved? 

On multiple occasions Blues Chairman Dave Checketts willingly offered up deadlines he has yet to successfully meet.  It could be the biggest mistake he’s made since joining the organization back in 2006. Not meeting these dates has raised expectations as well as attention to Checketts unsuccessful pursuit to line up investors.

I can understand why Checketts is struggling especially when his own minority Owner is essentially the main competition for local money.

That Minority Owner, Tom Stillman, has been rumored for several weeks as a guy looking to form his own Ownership group. Now the cat is officially out of the bag with news of Stillman officially making an offer to buy the St. Louis Blues.

The fact that Stillman is looking to go up against Checketts is telling in of itself. There have been rumblings recently of the two businessmen not being on the same page. If their relationship wasn’t strained before it certainly is now. How could it not be?

It will be nearly impossible for Checketts to pull this off without the support of local money. Stillman’s reach and connections throughout the city has disrupted Checketts ability to recruit those local dollars. In other words, the guy who once helped Checketts get his feet on the ground is now looking to nudge him out the door.

Sources confirm there are multiple high profile individuals, including St. Louis Cardinals baseball President Bill Dewitt III, who have aligned themselves with Stillman. Former Blues player Jim Campbell has also become involved.

What does it say when Stillman is more interested in going up against Checketts than helping him maintain control of the franchise?

Sources with firsthand knowledge of the offer tell me the number was “well short” and needs to be raised considerably to enter serious negotiations. I’m told Checketts and TowerBrook Capital Partners, the private equity company that owns the majority of the Blues, is looking for a number closer to the $189 million the Buffalo Sabres sold for. That deal also included an indoor Lacrosse team. Buffalo and St. Louis are good comparisons when evaluating the building, the market sizes, the fan base, and the history of the two clubs.

Finding someone to offer up that number will be very difficult. The situation that went down in Buffalo involved Terry Pegula, a lifelong hockey fan who sold his oil company for close to $5 Billion dollars. The Sabres were Pegula’s favorite childhood team growing up so it was a perfect fit for a billionaire who can sustain the losses that come with operating an NHL franchise. Pegula is a hockey diehard who recently donated $88 million dollars to jumpstart an NCAA Division 1 ice hockey program at Penn State University.

I don’t see anyone local Terry Pegula’s rescuing the Blues. I also don’t blame Stillman for making a low ball offer. It’s good business to try and buy cheap especially since we know TowerBrook Capital wants out of the NHL business. Keep in mind that the NHL has to approve any Ownership transaction and they aren’t always to the easiest to satisfy.

One thing we know about Stillman is that he’s extremely passionate about the Blues and the NHL. There’s no way anyone in the right mind can honestly believe they’re going buy the Blues and make a profit. It just isn’t reasonable to assume you’re going to make money under the current circumstances. For anyone to take on the task of running the Blues it has to be about winning a Stanley Cup. In a perfect world everyone would love to make money but that hasn’t happened with the last few Owners the Blues have had. If your main concern is the bottom line, you probably shouldn’t be trying to purchase the St. Louis Blues.

I’m not here to rag on Checketts and anybody who has been is missing the point. All this guy really did was save the franchise when there really was no other alternative back in 2006. Detroit businessman Andy Appleby wasn’t going to buy this team even though he once signed an exclusive purchase agreement. It is interesting that Stillman was originally involved with Appleby before Checketts got the deal done. Thee door opened for Stillman when things didn’t workout with Checketts and local businessman Tony Sansone.

The fact that we’re at this point just five years into the Checketts era really isn’t a  big surprise. We all knew Towerrook Captial wasn’t in it for the long haul and at some point Checketts was going to have to formulate an alternate plan. The plan he’s selling would be a tall task for anyone. Asking someone to fork over millions of dollars and allow Checketts to continue managing and operating the franchise on the surface makes little sense.

The idea that Checketts is preventing the team from being sold isn’t quite accurate either. My sources tell me he’s more than willing to walk away but for the right price. So far no one has presented that offer.

It should be noted that Checketts has not given up on pursuing investors and he still believes in the end he’ll get it done. I’m told he is not operating under a deadline and as of now there appear to be no other ownership group to express serious interest.

The bottom line, in order for the St. Louis Blues to move forward as an organization, a resolution is essential. It has to happen. That’s one thing we can all agree on.

More to come,

Andy Strickland
strickland.andy@gmail.com