In N.Y., Emily Smith reports MSG Chair JAMES DOLAN, who owns the Knicks and NHL Rangers, "wants to buy the New York Daily News and has a team of bankers exploring the possibility." A source said that Dolan's interest in the publication "is a natural extension of Cablevision’s current ownership of Newsday." But Dolan and MSG "have been locked in a 10-year feud with the News, which could put some of the paper’s editorial staff in a precarious position if he becomes the buyer." The RICKETTS family, which owns the Cubs, could be among "other interested buyers" (N.Y. POST, 3/2).
DETROIT ROCKET CITY: Quicken Loans Founder DAN GILBERT, who owns the Cavaliers, and company President & CMO JAY FARNER "gathered more than 400 executives, partners and tenants from 119 affiliated companies and 46 cities" in Detroit last week "for a three-day corporate retreat." Gilbert, a Detroit native, "is getting ready to roll out Rocket Fiber, an advanced fiber optic network with Internet speeds 100 times faster than now-typical speed for residential connections." He said that he will hopefully have "some major partners" for the initiative. Rocket Fiber launched last year and "has quietly been laying fiber lines in downtown Detroit, but details of the corporate structure are still being hammered out." Gilbert "would not discuss specific details of the business model, beyond saying the fiber will enable a 'mega-leap in speed.'" The network "sounds like a key infrastructure step toward realizing a vision that Gilbert has dubbed 'Detroit 2.0' and 'Opportunity Detroit,' a place where digital technology, media and entertainment outfits can take root and thrive" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/1).
HALF-BAKED SETTLEMENT: The startup entrepreneurs "who got into a legal battle" with Jaguars Owner SHAHID KHAN "over a popular city bakery, settled the case Friday and agreed they do not have a majority ownership in the business." TOM and CAROL RYKALSKY, along with their partner MIKE ZIMMERMAN, "brought the three-month dispute to an end when they settled the case," saying that they own only 44% of Edgewood Bakery in the city's Murray Hill neighborhood. They acknowledged that Khan and his investment firm Stache Investments own 56% of the business (JACKSONVILLE.com, 2/27).
