Kohl/Arena Discussion Page 71 - Study Released

Post #821 » by **paulpressey25** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:26 pm

Yesterday had a great discussion of the ownership on the big show.

All agreed Kohl as owner won't get a new arena done. He does not have enough success or PR skills to pull it off. It only comes with a sale and large Kohl gift.

Sparky said Kohl's attorneys are still vetting possible ownership groups as we speak.

With Seattle selling for $500 million, the question is how much of a discount would Kohl accept to keep the team locked into Milwaukee. And how much could he contribute to an arena. If Kohl wanted this to be his legacy, a $450 million dollar sale would allow him to seed a $200 million donation at least. That type of thing gets this arena built. period. Milwaukee politicians would be able to sell a new arena if Kohl paid for half.

I'm not sure though we can expect that type of generosity. I'd build a 25 foot tall statue of him though if he pulled this off.

Nebula1 · Post #822 » by **Nebula1** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 5:16 pm

paulpressey25 wrote:Yesterday had a great discussion of the ownership on the big show.

All agreed Kohl as owner won't get a new arena done. He does not have enough success or PR skills to pull it off. It only comes with a sale and large Kohl gift.

Sparky said Kohl's attorneys are still vetting possible ownership groups as we speak.

With Seattle selling for $500 million, the question is how much of a discount would Kohl accept to keep the team locked into Milwaukee. And how much could he contribute to an arena. If Kohl wanted this to be his legacy, a $450 million dollar sale would allow him to seed a $200 million donation at least. That type of thing gets this arena built. period. Milwaukee politicians would be able to sell a new arena if Kohl paid for half.

I'm not sure though we can expect that type of generosity. I'd build a 25 foot tall statue of him though if he pulled this off.

This is all good news for Milwaukee and the city really needs to step up and help get this done.

Owning an NBA team is lucrative and purchasing the Bucks on the very cheap could prove to be quite profitable to the next owner. I'm sure there are a number of interested parties.

Thunder Muscle · Post #823 » by **Thunder Muscle** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 5:17 pm

From a basketball standpoint I think Kohl may realize his legacy isn't that great looking at the records and if he gets this done, as PP said, he'll be viewed as the guy that kept basketball in Milwaukee and a generous Wisconsinite. He doesn't have kids to pass cash to. So maybe he does... That would be awesome.

trwi7 · Post #824 » by **trwi7** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 9:50 pm

paulpressey25 wrote:With Seattle selling for $500 million, the question is how much of a discount would Kohl accept to keep the team locked into Milwaukee. And how much could he contribute to an arena. If Kohl wanted this to be his legacy, a $450 million dollar sale would allow him to seed a $200 million donation at least. That type of thing gets this arena built. period. Milwaukee politicians would be able to sell a new arena if Kohl paid for half.

$200 million should pay for way more than half.

Ayt · Post #825 » by **Ayt** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 10:15 pm

LUKE23 wrote:Attanasio would be a horrible owner for the Bucks. I know people are enamored with the idea, but the guy wants to operate with a profit.

I don't see a huge problem with that concept for an NBA owner with the new CBA.

Attanasio has been a fantastic owner for the Brewers, IMO. They've been marginally profitable on a yearly basis, but the real money is in increasing the value of the franchise. Attanasio obviously understands that considering what he has done with the Brewers.

Badgerlander · Post #826 » by **Badgerlander** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 10:17 pm

I think you guys are forgetting how much of a battle it was to get the BC built and it was a damn gift.

kebzach · Post #827 » by **kebzach** » Thu Jan 10, 2013 11:14 pm

DocHoliday wrote:I think you guys are forgetting how much of a battle it was to get the BC built and it was a damn gift.

And how much of a battle Miller Park was.

Badgerlander · Post #828 » by **Badgerlander** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:14 pm

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenha ... ble-teams/
Billion-Dollar Knicks and Lakers Top List Of NBA's Most Valuable Teams

#30 Milwaukee Bucks

Value: $312 million
Loss: $0.5 million

The Bucks missed the playoffs last season, but took some steps forward off the court in 2012. BMO Harris Bank announced an arena naming rights deal for the Bradley Center. The team also sold naming rights to the four main entrances. The new deals are expected to boost sponsorship revenue by more than $3 million annually.

JayMKE · Post #829 » by **JayMKE** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:23 pm

Well, on the bright side the team only lost $500,000 last year. Atlanta lost $19 million, ouch.

Thunder Muscle · Post #830 » by **Thunder Muscle** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:34 pm

So really in our situation the best chance to increase revenue is to improve ticket sales and get a new arena that can be used year round to produce revenue....? I mean our market size, tv contracts, etc are never really going to change. Or could Time Warner come in and bid a sh*t ton to get the Bucks on their TWC 32 channel? Obviously they probably wouldn't. I'm guessing FSN contracts with the Bucks, even though they don't face much competition.

trwi7 · Post #831 » by **trwi7** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 6:43 pm

TWC 32 is only in eastern Wisconsin and only on Time Warner. They could obviously put the channel on other providers if they wanted to but I doubt they have the money to make a competitive bid against FS Wisconsin.

Thunder Muscle · Post #832 » by **Thunder Muscle** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:00 pm

trwi7 wrote:TWC 32 is only in eastern Wisconsin and only on Time Warner. They could obviously put the channel on other providers if they wanted to but I doubt they have the money to make a competitive bid against FS Wisconsin.

Yeah that's a good point, I forget other areas in WI have Charter, Solarus, etc.

I know we're too small of a market, but sometimes FSN really annoys me and I'd love for another station to start up that could just make a Wisconsin sports station instead of sharing with Minnesota. You'd think with the Brewers, Bucks, Badgers, and possibly like Marquette you could get a good plate of material to work with and to acquire sponsorship. But I suppose majority Badgers and Marquette are broadcasted on the Big Ten/Big East networks respectively, especially since I think Big Ten is starting their own hockey league. Get those UWGB & UWM Horizon league games.

DickCunningham · Post #833 » by **DickCunningham** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:24 pm

DocHoliday wrote:http://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2013/01/23/billion-dollar-knicks-and-lakers-top-list-of-nbas-most-valuable-teams/
Billion-Dollar Knicks and Lakers Top List Of NBA's Most Valuable Teams
#30 Milwaukee Bucks

Value: $312 million
Loss: $0.5 million

The Bucks missed the playoffs last season, but took some steps forward off the court in 2012. BMO Harris Bank announced an arena naming rights deal for the Bradley Center. The team also sold naming rights to the four main entrances. The new deals are expected to boost sponsorship revenue by more than $3 million annually.

Is that loss an operating loss or loss of value? If it's an operating loss and the team value increased, Kohl came out ahead on paper.

Post #834 » by **MickeyDavis** » Wed Jan 23, 2013 7:26 pm

It would be nice to have a viable competitor for FSN. Then again the Bucks ratings are small so even with a competitor the money wouldn't go very much higher.

The Bucks and Brewers were actually ahead of most teams years ago when they started their own network called SportsVue (I think that's what it was called). It was I believe $8 a month. It was mostly Fitzgeralds doing, Selig went along for the ride.

ETA, I found a link that mentions it http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 07,4290045

SkilesTheLimit · Post #835 » by **SkilesTheLimit** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:06 am

When I clicked on the Forbes link I went right to page 4 (the last page) knowing we'd be at the bottom. I was hoping it wouldn't be dead last. Oh well.

They desperately need a new arena. Holding out hope that's Herb's "gift" to the state on his way out...

Post #836 » by **paulpressey25** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:18 am

MickeyDavis wrote:
ETA, I found a link that mentions it http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 07,4290045

I hit that link and scrolled to the left and saw the....TV Listings. Man I forgot all about that section.

In any event, yes Sportvue was an earlier failed attempt at a Fox Sports Wisconsin type deal. Jim Fitzgerald made millions with his cable TV company and knew that sports on TV was the future (this back in 1983). He believed the Bucks could never survive in this market because our TV market was so small. We'd never have enough revenue to compete with the big markets and growing markets of the South and West. The only hope he saw was owning his own pay sports channel.

Sportsvue gave it a go but fizzled out. At that point he decided to put the Bucks up for sale. Didn't see them as financially viable in this market. Then Herb stepped in and bought the team. Fitz took his money and went to buy the Warriors because of the huge Bay area TV market.

Post #837 » by **MickeyDavis** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:37 am

paulpressey25 wrote:
MickeyDavis wrote:
ETA, I found a link that mentions it http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 07,4290045

I hit that link and scrolled to the left and saw the....TV Listings. Man I forgot all about that section.

I had forgot that for awhile channel 4 dropped the Tonight Show (Johnny Carson) because they thought they could better ratings with Quincy reruns, channel 18 picked it up. :lol:

Thunder Muscle · Post #838 » by **Thunder Muscle** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:29 pm

Wasn't there a short lived MSC (Midwest Sports Channel) that carried the Brewers and Bucks in like the mid-90's?

Edit: I guess MSC was technically pre-FSN http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Sports_North

Post #839 » by **MickeyDavis** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:51 pm

SportsVue was originally called Wisconsin Sports Network. I believed they had a deal with UW and carried some of their stuff. I think Sportsvue was only Bucks/Brewers but maybe they had UW too, I can't remember.

As PP said, Fitzgerald was ahead of the curve with TV.

MartyConlonOnTheRun · Post #840 » by **MartyConlonOnTheRun** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:21 am

Was just reading an article on the YUM Center and thought it hit on some points for this discussion.
http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2012/ ... -defaults/

1. If the project isn't done right, it can really screw a city in the long-haul.

2. Has Louisville been mentioned at all as an NBA city prospect in this thread. Their metro area is about 200K less than Milwaukee but they already have a "new" stadium and no other major sports team.