Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Gillett Maneuvering For Ownership Of NFL's Buffalo Bills?

Less than a year after effectively abandoning his role as majority owner of the Richard Petty Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team, George Gillett, Jr. appears to have his eye on the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills.

The BuffaloRising.com website reports that the jet-setting financier was spotted tailgating at Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday, accompanied by family members of former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, who has openly expressed an interested in acquiring his former team. Last week, Kelly’s nephew, Chad Kelly, tweeted a cryptic message saying 2012, “...might be a new year, new season and new... fill that in. You got it.”

Combined with Sunday’s Gillett sighting at the Bills-Eagles game, the remark triggered a firestorm of speculation about a possible bid by Gillett and Kelly for ownership of the team. The following day, Chad Kelly attempted to put out the fire, tweeting "the Bills news has nothing to do with a owner..." before abruptly deleting his Twitter account.

For those unfamiliar, here is a brief rundown of Gillett’s checkered history in business and professional sports.

At age 27, Gillett acquired a 22% ownership stake in the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, using approximately $1 million dollars borrowed from wealthy acquaintances in his native Wisconsin. He sold his share of the team within a year, using the proceeds to purchase the Harlem Globetrotters for $3.7M.

In the `80s, Gillett worked with junk bond guru Michael Milken to purchase six television stations for $1.1 billion. That purchase was highly leveraged – a tactic that would later become Gillett’s preferred mode of operation – and when the value of the stations subsequently plummeted, Gillett found himself unable to pay the note. Bond investors forced the company into bankruptcy, and soon after, Gillett filed for personal bankruptcy.

He eventually found success in the meat packing and ski resort businesses before reappearing on the professional sports scene in 2001 by purchasing an 80% interest in the legendary Montreal Canadiens hockey franchise (and their showplace arena, the Molson Center) for a reported $275M.

He and partner Tom Hicks also acquired the Liverpool English Premier League Soccer Club Football Club for $343M, amid grandiose promises of top-name player acquisitions, league championships and new stadium construction. The purchase was heavily leverage through the Royal Bank of Scotland, however, and by late 2010, Gillett and Hicks were no longer making scheduled payments. Gillett was forced to sell the Canadiens for a reported $525M, in an attempt to refinance the RBS loan and avoid a forced sale of the club. That bid ultimately failed, when the English Premier League forced a sale of the Liverpool club to John Henry, majority owner of the Boston Red Sox and a major partner in Roush Fenway Racing.

Gillett fell victim to another over-leveraged sale in his role as majority owner of Richard Petty Motorsports. Former owner Ray Evernham claimed Gillett failed to pay him approximately $20M from the initial purchase of the team, and the team operated on a “cash only” basis with numerous parts and material suppliers that service the NASCAR industry. On a number of occasions late last season, RPM had its race cars and engines embargoed by supplier Roush Fenway Racing, pending payment. Gillett effectively walked away from his majority ownership of the team with a handful of races still remaining in the 2010 campaign, leaving minority partner Petty to assemble an 11th-hour financial takeover that kept the team from being shuttered.

Apparently not dissuaded by his astounding run of failure, it appears Gillett may now be ready to take a shot at ownership of the Buffalo Bills. He and Hall Of Fame quarterback John Elway were rebuffed in a bid to purchase the NBA Denver Nuggets, NHL Colorado Avalanche and their shared home; the Pepsi Center not long ago. And now, he’s got a new, high-profile partner in Jim Kelly, who is considered a virtual deity by loyal Bills fans. There are unconfirmed reports that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell met with Gillett and Kelly last weekend.

For the sake of the league and the franchise, let’s hope Goodell does his homework before allowing George Gillett to put his mark on the National Football League.

12 comments:

  1. Let that crook invest his own money after he pays Ray Evernham what he owes him. I don't care what he does as long as he stays out of NASCAR.

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  2. NO NO NO! Jim Kelly getting into a deal with Gillette would ruin his, as you put it, "deity" status with the fans... The Bills start doing well, and George and his sons show up?!!!

    I'm gonna hurl....

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  3. Anonymous5:28 PM

    You think you could have at least attributed the article at Buffalo Rising you stole 85% of this material from?

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  4. There is a mention of Buffalo Rising in paragraph two. With that said, we have been covering George Gillett's misadventures -- in and out of NASCAR -- for nearly four years, and this is hardly the first time his tale of financial woe has been told here. Before accusing anyone of plagiarism, take the time to scroll back through the pages of this blog and find the MANY stories written on George Gillett and his various sporting and financial failures. This may be a new story to you, but with the exception of the Buffalo Bills angle, it's not new at all. We've heard (and discussed) all of this many times before

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  5. Ray Evernham said maybe it's time to look into the system that allows clowns like George Gillett's to keep doing what there doing, has Ray and others seen Wall Street??? Enron??? Large Corporations who file Bankruptcy like changing underwear and come out of it smelling like a rose and workers pay, pentions and benefits get thrown out on a judges orders and who gets screwed??? Maybe somebody like Ray would have the credit and backing to start saying things. All the other people who echo what Ray just said are call "socialists" and "hate capitalism" for saying something about these jack*>>'s who do what the do like George Gilletr!!!! Dave, great article!!! Travis from Tulsa

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  6. Travis, Ray is saying exactly what you're saying; that certain unnamed individuals and corporations should be held accountable for fleecing people the way they do, before moving on to their next victim.

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  7. mdbillings6:55 PM

    Interesting that the Buffalorising article makes no mention of Gillett's failed foray into NASCAR.

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  8. Anonymous8:43 PM

    I'll vouch for Moody. As a routine listener, stories of the shady antics of Gillette have made my blood boil since the GilletteEvernham days. This guy needs to go back to resort he came from.

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  9. Anonymous10:29 PM

    If successful, Gillett is obviously going to move the Bills to LA and try to get a piece of the new stadium in exchange for bringing an NFL team to the developer.

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  10. Anonymous2:32 PM

    Best course of action would be to get the worshippers of the Bills to write, tweet and/or call all interested parties in the NFL and make them aware of Gilette's way of operating a business. Also include the local media. With call in radio and tv shows the facts will be presented to the public who don't follow Nascar and understand the ramifications of what's about to happen to there franchise.

    Kelly in Manitoba

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  11. Anonymous7:57 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  12. Matt. Finger Lakes of NY9:53 PM

    Thats a sad story. Why can't these guys start with humble beginnings like the Bob Jenkins's and Tommy Baldwin's of the Cup garage. Instead they go into massive amounts of debt to run a sound team into the ground. As you said once "you can blow your financial brains out running a Nascar team".
    I think it would be great if you could get Baldwin or Jenkins on the show for a 15 min piece. Love hearing from the "David's" in our sport filled with Goliaths.

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