Indecision on the part of Nets ownership has delayed
negotiations to sell the team, reports Richard Sandomir of the
N.Y. TIMES. Though the team received a $96M from Devils Owner
John McMullen last month, Alan Aufzien and David Gerstein, who
own "about half the team between them," want a sum closer to the
$125M Comcast paid for the 76ers, while Gerstein "is said to
waver" towards selling at all. At least two new prospective
buyers have lined up -- Bally Entertainment and concert promoter
Don Kirshner. Bally CEO Arthur Goldberg, who served as Vice
Chair of the NJSEA in '90, has not yet made a formal bid.
Goldberg: "The issue is do they really want to sell the team.
When I bid, I want to close." Goldberg said Bally sees the team
as a "great marketing opportunity," but admitted they would "need
to be rebuilt." Kirshner has the backing of CIBC Wood Gundy, a
subsidiary of the Toronto-based Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce, a minority owner of the Blue Jays. Kirshner would not
reveal how high he would bid for the franchise, but he did say he
would keep the team in NJ and possibly turn the Meadowlands into
"an entertainment destination, with the Nets as a jazzy
centerpiece" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/19).
