Devils731 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Sounds like VBK worked out a pretty good deal for himself despite being in a weak position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legion15 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Bout time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghdi Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 Best news of the offseason thus far. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroGravityFat Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 let's go shopping Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyk Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Sounds like VBK worked out a pretty good deal for himself despite being in a weak position. Well, he's a highfalutin, high-class huckster and hustler after all! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 David Blitzer, the other money man behind the deal is from Scotch Plains, which can't hurt. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilNurn Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Very happy about this. Just seems to have worked out really well. And I think it will work out for Harris/Blitzer--the attendance/popularity and arena area are on the up, and they've got a brand new arena. Vanderbeek is happy, the new owners are happy, and fans can be happy we won't have to worry about any more debt reports in the NY Post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilMinder Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Man, I am so sick of this offseason. I hope that is the end of the major news events. I guess in the future we all will look back and go, good god that was a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin226 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 This is so great for the Devils.. Finally a wealthy owner who can cover the debt, market and fund the team well, and most importantly ice a cap team. Really looking forward to what Harris brings to the organization! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sundstrom Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 spending towards the cap hasn't every really been an issue for the devils. and their marketing has been better in recent years. still think this will be great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 I couldn't be more thrilled by this. This was the best-case scenario. A billionaire owner, debt taken care of, a clean slate. And as an added bonus to all of this, a cherry on top of the sundae, the city of Philadelphia is ready to riot about it. I rest a happy man tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msweet Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 I couldn't be more thrilled by this. This was the best-case scenario. A billionaire owner, debt taken care of, a clean slate. And as an added bonus to all of this, a cherry on top of the sundae, the city of Philadelphia is ready to riot about it. I rest a happy man tonight. bingo...and add in a owner with Newark roots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadDog2020 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 I couldn't be more thrilled by this. This was the best-case scenario. A billionaire owner, debt taken care of, a clean slate. And as an added bonus to all of this, a cherry on top of the sundae, the city of Philadelphia is ready to riot about it. I rest a happy man tonight. bingo...and add in a owner with Newark roots. Not to mention David Blitzer is from Scotch Plains. Awesome stuff all around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Rockies 1976 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 I couldn't be more thrilled by this. This was the best-case scenario. A billionaire owner, debt taken care of, a clean slate. And as an added bonus to all of this, a cherry on top of the sundae, the city of Philadelphia is ready to riot about it. I rest a happy man tonight. There's a part of me that's looking for some negative, just because I guess I don't want to be blindsided by anything (all of this almost seems too good to be true...the Post must be hating this), but I really don't think there is one. Sure, on some level it seems weird that this guy owns a team in Philly and one in NJ, but so what...easy to forget that John McMullen owned the Devils and the Houston Astros for a while. Not like the Sixers and Devils are rivals anyway. All in all, pretty hard not to be happy about this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-Way Chief 11 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 I agree - should be a great day for the Devils. My only fear is these guys are investment bankers, one being an MD at Blackstone, and are in this to just make money. The name of the game in private equity is to buy an undervalued asset, revamp it, make profitable, and later sell it. This isnt necessarily a bad thing; however, I hope they are in it for the long haul and truly care about the Devils. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenstatepkwy Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Harris will be on the Glen Macnow show on 94/610WIP Philly at 3PM today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucifersDog Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 I agree - should be a great day for the Devils. My only fear is these guys are investment bankers, one being an MD at Blackstone, and are in this to just make money. The name of the game in private equity is to buy an undervalued asset, revamp it, make profitable, and later sell it. This isnt necessarily a bad thing; however, I hope they are in it for the long haul and truly care about the Devils. They will keep the arena and the entertainment business and sell off the Devils for relocation if the Devils don't cut it, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck the Duck Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Anyone else get the feeling that this major annoucement at 11 am this morning is going to be about a Twitter "free ticket" giveaway to the LIberty Hockey Tournament in October? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newarkcupparade Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 They will keep the arena and the entertainment business and sell off the Devils for relocation if the Devils don't cut it, I would tend to think they would like to have a team there who is going to bring business in to the arena for a set 41 events a year as opposed to leaving all that opportunity open... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck the Duck Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 This is so great for the Devils.. Finally a wealthy owner who can cover the debt, market and fund the team well, and most importantly ice a cap team. Really looking forward to what Harris brings to the organization! Overall, I think (and hope) this will be a good thing. But, to be honest, the Devils have always had wealthy owners. McMullen was the owner of a major shipping conglomerate and had a net worth in the high hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars. YankeeNets was a compilation of owners including George Steinbrenner, Ray Chambers, and Peter Simon (of Simon Malls), each worth hundreds of millions by themselves. JVB was worth hundreds of millions before the Lehman collapse, and undoubtedly took a big hit in lost stock that he was forced to retain when they went bankrupt. That, combined with opening the Rock at the time his financial fortunate took a major hit, is likely what led to the financial state this team currently finds itself in. I have no idea what to expect from Harris as our new owner. Hopefully, he will follow through and continue to develop the area around the Rock and will work to bring more/better events to the arena. As for the Devils, I hope he bankrolls the team well, but stays out of the decisions regarding the on ice product which reports are he has vowed to do. Regardless, it will be nice to stay out of the ridiculous Kosman/Forbes articles every week though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beezer34 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 They will keep the arena and the entertainment business and sell off the Devils for relocation if the Devils don't cut it, The Devils have sold-out 30 of their last 39, and have averaged 17,000 over the last 50 home games. ..remind me again why I should believe this team “won’t cut it” ?? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin226 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 They will keep the arena and the entertainment business and sell off the Devils for relocation if the Devils don't cut it, You sound incredibly similar to NC107 on HFBoards.... I think today, JVB, the finances are intertwined between the Devils hockey team and the arena and entertainment business. I suspect the new owners will split the two and make the Devils one business standing on its own and the arena and entertainment business the other entity. That way the new owners if dissatisfied with the Devils operation can sell off for "relocation" the hockey business and they can still make money with the arena and the entertainment business. Fact of the matter is that the Devils are at least break-even and the arena pretty much needs an anchor tenant. We draw top 10 in the US for average TV viewers per game and our attendance is increasing as the fan base comes of age. So I'm not sure why this is even really much of a thought right now. Technically the same situation applies to practically every sports team that owns their building as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJ Eco Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 (edited) Essentially, you have two men, JvdB and Harris, who see the goldmine that Prudential Center is for the long-run. One man couldn't cut it with the limited funds and timeline he had (Jeff), so the other is taking over. The Devils' financial problems were owner-centric and had almost nothing to do with the value of the arena or the franchise, which remains high throughout all of this. Harris and JvdB see all the writing on the walls that we see (about the fanbase growing up, more season ticketholders, etc.) and at the end of the day, they're businessmen; this is what an investment is all about. After all is said and done, I'm glad JvdB is getting a decent deal out of this. He was a good man, and above all, a New Jersey Devils fan that wanted the best for the franchise. I'm glad he could be fairly compensated and relieved of the headache. Edited August 15, 2013 by DJ Eco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triumph Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 The Devils aren't moving, end of story. You could buy a team much cheaper and move them if you wanted. Now maybe at the end of the lease, whoever's owning the team tries to cow Newark into giving him more or he'll go somewhere else, but usually cities give in on those sorts of battles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevsMan84 Posted August 15, 2013 Share Posted August 15, 2013 Essentially, you have two men, JvdB and Harris, who see the goldmine that Prudential Center is for the long-run. One man couldn't cut it with the limited funds and timeline he had (James), so the other is taking over. The Devils' financial problems were owner-centric and had almost nothing to do with the value of the arena or the franchise, which remains high throughout all of this. Harris and JvdB see all the writing on the walls that we see (about the fanbase growing up, more season ticketholders, etc.) and at the end of the day, they're businessmen; this is what an investment is all about. After all is said and done, I'm glad JvdB is getting a decent deal out of this. He was a good man, and above all, a New Jersey Devils fan that wanted the best for the franchise. I'm glad he could be fairly compensated and relieved of the headache. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.