Red Sox CEO John Harrington will meet with MLB
officials this week to "discuss the framework for
determining the winning bidder for the team," according to
Meg Vaillancourt of the BOSTON GLOBE. Harrington said the
first inquiry for the Yawkey Trust's 53% stake in the team,
which was put up for sale on Friday, came from a "media-
related interest." Harrington added that he has heard from
more than 30 prospective buyers, but he refused to identify
any of them. While the team's limited partners and MLB must
approve any new owner, Harrington "alone has the power to
select the candidate." The initial review will be "handled
solely" by Harrington and the trust's Legal Counsel Justin
Morreale, a partner of the Boston firm Bingham Dana & Gould.
After the preliminary reviews are completed, Harrington will
ask for formal bids. Vaillancourt noted that with the
majority stake expected to be valued between $200-300M,
prospective bidders "will have to make a large down payment
to buy the team." Harrington will determine the "highest
and best" bid and forward it to the team's other limited
partners. Harrington will need 12 of 23 possible votes to
approve his selection. He controls four votes (his own and
the trust's 7% limited interest). Aramark, the team's
concessionaire, controls 7.5 votes and former Dexter Shoe
Owner Harold Alfond controls 6.5 votes. Harrington said
that an "optimistic if unlikely" scenario is that a new
owner could be in place by next spring (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/8).
TIMING IS RIGHT: Harrington said Friday, "The team is
in strong financial shape; we've had a record-breaking
attendance this year; we got a ballpark bill passed on
Beacon Hill with $312 million in public aid; and the economy
is booming. It's the right time to sell." Harrington said
a deal on a new ballpark can get done: "This project can
move forward. The private financing can be put in place.
The public financing is in place" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/7).
Harrington acknowledged the ballpark deal was not finalized
"as quickly as I hoped, and our timetable for opening the
park in 2004 looks very unlikely" (PROVIDENCE JOURNAL,
10/7). Meanwhile, MA lawmakers said that the deal they
"passed this summer for infrastructure will be available to
whoever buys the team" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/8). But some
potential investors may hope to gain control of the team and
move plans for a new ballpark "to prime tracts of real
estate they control" (BOSTON HERALD, 10/10). In Boston,
Joan Vennochi writes that with new owners, the team "should
also get a new home in a new part of the city -- the
waterfront." She adds that the "price tag for a new Fenway
in the Fenway is just too high" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/10).
ESPN.com's Peter Gammons wrote that the announced sale "was
a surprise only in its timing" (ESPN.com, 10/8).
THE BREAKDOWN: As the team's only general partner, the
Yawkey Trust owns 46% of the Red Sox. The trust is also one
of the team's eight limited partners, with about a 7% stake.
The combined interests gives the trust control over 53% of
the team (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/7). Harrington spoke with some
of the team's limited partners before Friday's news: "I
think whoever buys the team will also try to buy all of them
out, but some might prefer to stay in" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/7).
MEDIA BUY: In Boston, Howard Manly noted that the Red
Sox get about $34M this year in total national and local
media rights fee, about the fifth-highest total in MLB.
That should increase to an estimated $42M next season with
revenue from the new Fox deal (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/8).
