04/19/24
July 02, 2009
Texas Rangers Owner Tom Hicks Can't Make Payroll: Major League Baseball has loaned as much as $15 million to the Texas Rangers after Owner Tom Hicks reportedly couldn't meet payroll, according to Yahoo News. "He won't be running the team much longer," a source told the site. "Major League Baseball is helping him through this until someone else can be put in place to run the club." Hicks, whose net worth was reported by Forbes as $1 billion, also owns the Dallas Stars and 50 percent of Liverpool FC.
Hicks is a knucklehead who is a poster boy for much of what's wrong with baseball. A Scott Boras enabler and bluff swallower who absurdly overpaid for A-Rod.
Money trouble is just what he ought to be having.
Among other things.
Them Rangers owners past and present, they are a special breed.
posted by beaverboard at 08:21 PM on July 02, 2009
Gillett sure sold the Canadiens quickly (in related news).
posted by mikelbyl at 10:25 PM on July 02, 2009
Thank you to whomever fixed my post. I seem to have problems putting a file in a response.
posted by jjzucal at 10:43 PM on July 02, 2009
The man is an ass. All about the publicity. He's done nothing to help the Rangers win, and they're fading fast. With the summer heat starting, crowds at the park are dwindling quickly. If he's got money problems, it's only going to get worse. Here's hoping he takes a foul ball off that mug of his.
posted by dviking at 11:38 PM on July 02, 2009
That would require Hicks's physical presence at a game, dviking.
As a Stars fan and half-assed Rangers supporter, I obviously wouldn't be sad to see Hicks go. He's the epitome of the billionaire businessman that turned to team ownership as an investment despite knowing next to nothing about sports. For years he's given the impression that he couldn't give two shits about building a succesful team so long as the bottom line is black.
That said, I'm a little wary of the ability of either MLB or the NHL to find a willing buyer right now.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:56 PM on July 02, 2009
I don't get it. If Hicks is worth as much as a billion, why doesn't he reach into his hip pocket and cough up the cash?
posted by feste at 02:58 PM on July 03, 2009
All of his worth could be reflected by his assets and he might lack the cash. You'd think he would be able to borrow against assets like FC freaking Liverpool, but maybe he's overleveraged out the ass.
posted by rcade at 03:56 PM on July 03, 2009
Ufez, I'll give the guy some credit, he does show up for some games...and his "special seats" are in a box that puts him really close to the plate...he just might get that head shot.
As to his money and why he won't put any of into the clubs... I'll bet he's leveraged beyond belief. That's how he made his money to begin with. That coupled with what Ufez stated, he only bought the clubs for investments, and if that's gong south he's not about to throw good money into it.
posted by dviking at 06:08 PM on July 03, 2009
I recently came to Texas to live and was looking for a team to follow, and as Dallas is the nearest I picked the Rangers. Previously, I was Dodger fan, but I prefer to follow the team in the area in which I live. I think the Rangers have the potential to improve as a team. In comparison with last year they have definitely improved. Something has happened to their offense; hopefully that will adjust, or maybe the other teams found out something. Reminds me of a player that said once they found out he couldn't hit a curve ball he saw nothing else. I can only hope the Rangers can be sold to someone who loves the game and is looking for a team and not an investment venture.
posted by feste at 09:40 PM on July 03, 2009
jizucal, I'm not surprised that the RBS would continue to carry Hicks for 350M. Look what their business practices have gotten them so far. I agree that Hicks is a jerk who doesn't understand how to run a professional sports franchise. You don't attract fans by overpaying for big names who tend to under perform, not necessarily through their own lack of effort, but rather through the ineptitude of the surrounding cast. Fans will support a winning team regardless of who is playing. True, a certain segment of fandom will come to see the stars, but your bread and butter is the repeat business. Unsuccessful team after unsuccessful team has demonstrated this.
Full disclosure: My brother-in-law works for RBS here in the US, and thanks to their penchant for making bad loans and leveraging bad assets, he has been sweating out his job for over a year now.
posted by Howard_T at 04:40 PM on July 04, 2009
Meanwhile, in England ...