» Blog Archive » Cohan hangs the “FOR SALE” sign on Warriors’ HQ, but how much will he get?

Mar
22

Cohan hangs the “FOR SALE” sign on Warriors’ HQ, but how much will he get?

Filed under: Commentary; Tagged as: Chris Cohan, David Stern, Don Nelson, John Wall, Larry Ellison, Larry Riley, Robert Rowell, Tom Bruso

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

The Warriors made it official this morning on behalf of majority owner Chris Cohan:

FOR SALE.

Cohan has hired a franchise-sale specialist, Galatioto Sports Partners, to manage the disposal of the team he ran into the ground during 16 seasons of ownership — 15 of those playoff-free.

It seems fairly obvious that Cohan is bringing in GSP to attempt to drive up the price from the $320 million value upon which Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison — the odds-on favorite to wind up as the next Warriors owner — based his early bid. According to Tim Kawakami, who has been all over this story for the better part of a year now, there are five or six other groups that have been waiting until now to get involved in the bidding.

It’s unlikely (if not downright impossible) that any of them could outbid Ellison, if Larry decides he wants the team, period. And the notion that there are a half-dozen different bidders will sound familiar to anyone who bought a house before the bubble collapsed.

“Oh, there are several potential buyers interested in the house, so you should think about that when you submit your bid,” says the sellers’ Realtor while you roll your eyes at the broken-down dump in front of you.

But all it takes is one group to put a $360M or $400M or $500M (if you believe the numbers that MT-2 is throwing around in his blog) flag in the ground. Then it becomes a question of how much of a premium Ellison wants to spend above and beyond what he thinks the team is worth.

Many Warrior fans will undoubtedly feel that any owner will be better than Cohan, and therefore not care if it’s Ellison or some alternate group that wrests control away. But it does matter; recall that the 2007 team was torn down because the team didn’t want to pay luxury tax dollars for a team that probably had no chance of winning a championship. It’s a defensible position, but only if you then have a legitimate Plan B in place, which Cohan & Co. did not. (And still haven’t found.)

If Ellison winds up in the owner’s box and his America’s Cup experience is any guide, the luxury-tax threshold should no longer be a concern.

The timing of the Warriors’ announcement — which was prompted by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal breaking the story this morning — makes me wonder if that’s one major reason why the team has such an early renewal date for season-ticket holders. Locking up as much guaranteed 2010-11 income as possible would presumably make the team look better to suitors.

(It would certainly put more money in Cohan’s pocket, and some have speculated that a rush of season-ticket renewals or purchases might make Cohan pull the team off the table, like Lucy in “Peanuts” with her snatching-away-the-football-just-before-Charlie-Brown-can-kick-it technique. Personally, I don’t put much stock in that idea. The guy is already reviled in this town, but if he were to pull that stunt, I would fear for his bodily safety.)

The other most interesting aspect, as touched on by MT-2, is that the Warriors face a crucial summer coming up. Not only could they wind up with a huge decision if they were, say, to collect the No. 2 pick in the draft (if they get No. 1 and don’t pick John Wall, then David Stern should step in immediately and force Cohan to sell the team for $1.75 and some AC Transit bus passes from Tom Bruso.), but they also have a bevy of free-agency questions to sift through. If this sale doesn’t come together in an awful hurry, it’s going to be Larry Riley, Robert Rowell and Don Nelson doing the answering. And regardless of who winds up buying the team, it’s unlikely they’ll be happy with that outcome.

19 Responses to “Cohan hangs the “FOR SALE” sign on Warriors’ HQ, but how much will he get?”

JoeSez March 22nd, 2010 at 10:29 pm

“The NBA’s Board of Governors on Wednesday unanimously approved Michael Jordan’s $275-million bid to buy the Charlotte Bobcats from Bob Johnson. ”

Bob Johnson paid 300M for the Bobcats and sold for 275M. Looks like Cohan held on too long, Boo F’n Hoo.

Cohan not sell until AFTER the NBA lottery to see of he can squeeze a few more Million out of a lucky #1 pick.

He should sell prior to the draft to maximize the degrees of freedom the next owner will have for the 2011 season.
Nigel Tufnel March 23rd, 2010 at 4:11 pm

This sale is highly unlikely to be completed before the lottery is over. If they’re lucky, it will be completed before next season starts, but that leaves a lot of time for more ham-handed screwups from Rowell & Co.

I’m elated that this team will be sold, but I’m nervous about what happens until then.
joesez March 24th, 2010 at 9:56 pm

What happens between now and a possible sale is more ass-clown cost cutting.

Teams/GMs have 3 assets; Contracts/talent, Cap Space and Draft picks.

These clowns only manage to ticket sales against payroll.
Kenny Seagle, Emperor of the North March 30th, 2010 at 12:28 pm

samurai larry didnt get 2 where he is paying 2 much 4 bad assets

~ $500m is more about getting readers then reporting reality

the plan is 2 buy them then move 2 sf w/ a better pre & post game scene as well as opportunity 4 corporate sponsorships/deals….. no 1 gets excited if “Youth Uprising” is a GSW partner…. capisci????

ANY QUESTIONS???????
Gilson May 28th, 2010 at 3:36 pm

hey brotha, WHERE IN THE WORLD are you??????
San Diego Dui July 5th, 2010 at 5:09 am

This sale is highly unlikely to be completed before the lottery is over. If they’re lucky, it will be completed before next season starts, but that leaves a lot of time for more ham-handed screwups from Rowell & Co.
+1
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