Dallas businessman John Spano's purchase of a majority share
in the Islanders for about $80M is "all but a done deal,"
according to Ken Moritsugu of NEWSDAY. Yesterday, Spano
announced he has completed negotiations and is only awaiting a
"sign-off" by lawyers and approval by the NHL Board of Governors.
Spano, in a prepared statement: "All the paperwork is now in the
hands of the attorneys for review. I hope the review is
completed very soon, [and then] the contract is signed." A
source "familiar with some of the talks" said Spano would
actually put up a "smaller sum -- perhaps $25 million" --because
he would also be assuming the club's debt believed to be over
$40M. A second source cited by Moritsugu said the deal would
likely give Spano 90% of the Islanders. The rest of the team
would be divided between current majority Owner John Pickett and
"certain members" of the management group that currently runs the
club. Pickett would also retain a "sizable portion" of the
Isles' "lucrative" Cablevision TV contract, which pays between
$10.5-12M a year. The second source cited by Moritsugu noted
Cablevision has agreed to a contract extension to 2030 in return
for reduced annual team payments in the "short term" (NEWSDAY,
10/31). According to Peter Botte of the N.Y. POST, Spano's deal
is for $82M -- broken down into $25M in cash, $40-45M in assumed
debt and the remainder a buyout of the cable deal (N.Y. POST,
10/31).
IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?: Former Islanders team
physician Dr. Jeffrey Minkoff, who was fired after last season,
plans to file a lawsuit against the club for $19,800 in fees
allegedly owed him for his services last season, according to
John Valenti of NEWSDAY. The suit claim team officials informed
Minkoff the reason fees were withheld was because "the physician
was, in part, responsible for the early retirement of Brett
Lindros," -- who retired last May after suffering numerous
concussions (NEWSDAY, 10/31).
