Donald Sturm yesterday asked Ascent Entertainment Group
to "give him until Friday to work out his differences" with
the city of Denver, but the city said that three pages of
new conditions on his deal to acquire the Nuggets, Avalanche
and Pepsi Center presented by Sturm "are deal killers,"
according to Flynn & Lewis of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS.
Sturm said that in trying to secure guarantees to keep the
teams in Denver, the city wants more from him than it
received from Ascent two years ago. Sturm: "The city wants
a lot more restrictions than the seller has." City attorney
Dan Muse said that Sturm wants to put conditions on his
guarantees that "might cause the city to lose the teams."
Muse: "We are now pretty far apart. It is very doubtful
that we're going to be able to close this deal." Sturm said
that the city is "hung up over his insistence that the city
reduce his liability for the 'no move' guarantee if he sells
interests in the teams." If he sells a 10% interest in the
teams, Sturm wants the city to reduce his "potential
damages" to 90% and have the partner pick up 10%. Sturm:
"I've got to be careful what I do here so I don't screw up
my estate for the next 25 years. ... I'm not getting cold
feet or warm feet; I just have feet" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS,
11/10). Also in Denver, Greene & Leib report that talks
between Sturm and the city "unraveled," leaving the future
of the two teams "again up in the air." Muse, who called
Sturm's three pages of conditions a "bombshell," said, "We
ain't doing this deal" (DENVER POST, 11/10).
WHAT KIND OF OWNER? In Denver, Bob Kravitz writes that
there are some "wildly and emotionally divergent opinions"
on a Sturm ownership. Some feel it would "be an abject
disaster," as Sturm has "absolutely no passion for the two
teams." Kravitz: "Already, there is word that morale in the
Pepsi Center offices is at an all-time low, courtesy of
Sturm." But the pro-Sturm faction says he "is a perfect
owner on paper, a very rich man who is local and private."
Kravitz writes that Sturm "is using his leverage -- he knows
how badly Ascent needs to get moving on the Liberty deal --
and is holding things up with the city to gain additional
concessions from Ascent" (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 11/10).
