Grizzlies being sold

[ElNono]

Heisley agree to sell Grizzlies to tech entrepreneur Pera

Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley confirmed Monday that he has an agreement in principle, pending league approval, to sell the team to 34-year-old communications entrepreneur Robert Pera. ESPN.com first reported the tentative deal, believed to be in the $350 to $375 million range, and an industry source said Monday that the belief is that the sale will ultimately go through.

Heisley has owned the Grizzlies since 2000, when the franchise was in Vancouver. He bought the team from then-owner John McCaw and said he would keep the team in Canada. But the Grizzlies moved to Memphis in 2001 after looking at potential locations in Anaheim and New Orleans.

[Reck]

Giving up so soon?

There goes BRs theory that their fanbase and ownership was bar none.

[tesseractive]

Giving up so soon?

There goes BRs theory that their fanbase and ownership was bar none.

He claims its because he's 75 with heart problems, and his kid doesn't want to run the team, so he's selling them while he's still in good shape to do it. To hear him tell it, the team's doing just fine.

Still, you never know when the west coast tech billionaire that's buying the team will set his sights on Anaheim or Seattle.

[BRHornet45]

Giving up so soon?

There goes BRs theory that their fanbase and ownership was bar none.

wtf? son when have I ever said anything like that?

I said their team was awesome and had a bright future, etc. ... but I have never once said anything about their fan base and ownership being "bar none". if anything I have stated numerous times at how much better the Hornets organization and fan base is than Memphis and it shows in the dollar amount the teams are being sold for. (Hornets $385M, Grizzlies $350M-375M)

[Latarian Milton]

dont they need lakers approval to get the deal done?

[urunobili]

I hope the Sonics get themTBH

[CubanMustGo]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201....ap/index.html

The team's lease at the FedExForum would make it very costly to leave before 2021. Rudy Gay, Zach Randolph, Gasol and Mike Conley - four of five starters - are under contract for at least the next three seasons.

The new owner's another Mark Cuban type:

Pera is a former Apple engineer who left in 2005 to start Ubiquiti Networks, a communications technology company that makes WiFi networking equipment. He became a billionaire in October 2011 when his company went public with a fortune estimated at $1.5 billion in March. A stock dip earlier this month has left the man described as a big basketball fan who loves to play the game worth an estimated $980 million.

[TDMVPDPOY]

I hope the Sonics get themTBH

why should he move his acquired team to that piece of a hole if his not from that area?

[tesseractive]

why should he move his acquired team to that piece of a hole if his not from that area?

Seattle's a much bigger market, and now that they've realized it sucks not having a team, they'll build a new arena. Plus, Seattle is a pretty quick flight from SF.

I'm not sure whether he can find a loophole in the lease, but even 9 years isn't that long if it could add hundreds of millions to the value of the team.

[CubanMustGo]

Considering the dude has lost a third of his net worth already since March ($500 million), he's probably not looking to spend a boatload more breaking a lease ... at least not for a while.

[Reck]

wtf? son when have I ever said anything like that?

I said their team was awesome and had a bright future, etc. ... but I have never once said anything about their fan base and ownership being "bar none". if anything I have stated numerous times at how much better the Hornets organization and fan base is than Memphis and it shows in the dollar amount the teams are being sold for. (Hornets $385M, Grizzlies $350M-375M)

You said something along the lines that their fans are more loyal than the Spurs on one of those 2 dollars tickets thread. I may have exagerated about the ownership bit though. lol

[TampaDude]

Considering the dude has lost a third of his net worth already since March ($500 million), he's probably not looking to spend a boatload more breaking a lease ... at least not for a while.

Wow...I wish I was rich enough to lose a third of my $$$ and still be a billionaire...

[NRHector]

Seattle's a much bigger market, and now that they've realized it sucks not having a team, they'll build a new arena. Plus, Seattle is a pretty quick flight from SF.

I'm not sure whether he can find a loophole in the lease, but even 9 years isn't that long if it could add hundreds of millions to the value of the team.

that would be good for Stern, having a team in Seattle, the new Sonics vs. the old Sonics just like the NFL with ans vs Texans

[BRHornet45]

You said something along the lines that their fans are more loyal than the Spurs on one of those 2 dollars tickets thread. I may have exagerated about the ownership bit though. lol

son EVERY playoff team's fan base this season were more loyal than the Spurs. that's not saying much lol. while the Spurs were selling thousands of first and second round $2-5 playoff tickets, scrub markets like Memphis and Indiana were selling them for 10+ times more at minimum price.