Leiweke Says Preds Loan Was Made With Eye On Sommet Center
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Leiweke Says Loan To Del Biaggio Was For
Sommet Center, Not To Move Predators To K.C. |
AEG President & CEO Tim Leiweke Thursday indicated that the $7M loan from AEG to Predators investor William "Boots" Del Biaggio III "was made so AEG might ultimately get management rights to the arena in Nashville, and not as a means to influence the Predators to relocate to [the] AEG-operated arena in Kansas City," according to Larry Brooks of the N.Y. POST. Leiweke: "Our interest was in the [Sommet Center], not in the team. The loan did not come from AEG Sports, but through AEG facilities. We analyzed the situation and concluded that the Predators would be locked into Nashville for a long time. Our interest had nothing to do with Kansas City, but rather in getting the long-term management rights to (Sommet Center). ... I take responsibility for making an error in judgment regarding Del [Biaggio's] character. It was a mistake and it was my fault. But we certainly were not trying to do anything detrimental to the future of the Predators in Nashville or anything detrimental to the NHL. ... I'd been assured by Boots that (the loan) had been fully vetted with [NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman], but believing that is just one of the mistakes I made that I regret." Brooks wrote, "Still, if the loan itself didn't create the appearance of a conflict of interest, keeping it a secret most certainly gave it that impression" (N.Y. POST, 8/10).
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