Minnesota Hockey Ventures Group LP (MHV), the holding
company of the Wild, "may be due for a name change" because
the "scope of its business has spread far beyond the rink,"
according to Melissa Levy of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE,
who profiled the company's business operations as it
prepares for the Wild's inaugural season. In addition to
putting the team on the ice next season, Levy wrote that MHV
"has been looking at broader business opportunities in
facilities management and training." Wild CEO Jac Sperling:
"It's not just about hockey ventures. It's about sports and
entertainment." MHV will manage the team's arena in
downtown St. Paul and the adjacent RiverCentre complex.
Also, the company's new catering joint venture "will service
the premium seating levels of the arena and off-site
events." Wild President Tod Leiweke: "I think there's
logical expansion for us, as a regional sports and
entertainment company, to get into other things, because
there are so many complementary opportunities. But the
heart of it has to be a vibrant (hockey) franchise." But
with the team preparing for its debut in October, MHV
"hasn't been especially aggressive in searching out new
business ventures." Sperling: "Opportunities are there, and
we get approached on a lot of things. You just pay
attention to what's happening" (STAR TRIBUNE, 6/11).
WILD GETS LOAN: The SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL's Daniel
Kaplan reports that the Wild "borrowed" $70M last month to
finance its expansion-fee payment to the NHL. The team
"used an unusual financing method that it says will provide
it with the financial flexibility necessary to build a
larger sports and entertainment company." To secure the
loan, the team "took assets, such as luxury-suite and
sponsorship fees, and placed them into a new company, or
conduit. This company then borrowed money from the
commercial-paper market, a form of borrowing available only
to companies that financial institutions consider to be
highly creditworthy" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/12 issue).
STATING THEIR CASE: St. Paul Pioneer Press Editor
Walker Lundy wrote an Op-Ed yesterday explaining the
newspaper's new marketing agreement with the Wild. Lundy
maintained that the Pioneer Press "will be neither
advantaged or disadvantaged in our reporting and editorial
commentary" on the team (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 6/11).
