A pair of "Hollywood heavyweights" who own several
minor league sports teams "has taken an interest in the
[A's] and is the first group to formally request a look at
the baseball team's books," according to Laura Counts of the
OAKLAND TRIBUNE. Mandalay Sports Entertainment Chair and
former head of Sony Pictures Peter Guber and Vice Chair Paul
Schaeffer have submitted an application to go through MLB's
pre-approval process. Schaeffer: "This opportunity came
along and we found it to be very interesting. It's close to
home, the team is young and it has some terrific young
stars." Mandalay Entertainment owns the AAA Las Vegas Stars
and the A Lake Elsinore (CA) Storm baseball teams, as well
as the IHL Las Vegas Thunder, and is building a baseball
stadium in Dayton, OH, for the A Rockford (IL) Reds who are
moving to OH. The company has also produced such films as
"I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Donnie Brasco."
Schaeffer, on whether the A's $120M price tag is reasonable:
"`Reasonable' depends on what their cash flows are."
Schaeffer and Guber "were approached" by Game Plan LLC, the
MA-based investment firm handling the A's sale. A's
President Mike Crowley: "These are pretty good names"
(OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 2/10).
