Say what you will about Larry Brooks and his Sunday NHL column in the New York Post, there's little doubt that everyone in the league reads it -- which is probably why Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) President and CEO Tim Leiweke decided to turn to Brooks when it came to coming clean about AEG's low-profile loan to William "Boots" Del Baggio.One of the hottest stories going in the league off the ice during this offseason has been the starting revelation that Del Baggio had some covert help when it came to financing his purchase of a minority interest in the Nashville Predators.
As most folks have read by now, Del Baggio, who seems to have been a little light in the wallet when it comes to his own cash reserves, was able to buy a piece of the Predators thanks to some creative financing from AEG, the owners of the LA Kings, and Craig Leipold, the former owner of the Predators who is now in control of the Minnesota Wild. And, as we've also subsequently discovered, the deal was pulled off without the commissioner knowing a thing about it.
From the outside looking in, it's clear Leipold was looking for any way to grease his skids out of Nashville after losing millions on the Predators, while you don't have to be a rocket scientist to conclude AEG was in on the deal to help Del Baggio gain control of the team and move it to Kansas City where another AEG-owned arena is looking for an anchor tenant.
Needless to say, the commissioner is a little miffed and is promising an investigation.
Enter Leiweke, a sports executive who has been around the block a few times.
With Brooks serving as public confessor, Leiweke tried clear up the whole misunderstanding:
"Our interest was in the facility, not in the team," Leiweke said. "The loan did not come from AEG Sports, but through AEG Facilities.In other words, there's nothing to see here, these aren't the droids you're looking for and any investigation into this situation will dead end with Leiweke.
"We analyzed the situation and concluded that the Predators would be locked into Nashville for a long time. Our interest had nothing to do with Kansas City, but rather in getting the long-term management rights to [Sommet Center]."
[...]
"I take responsibility for making an error in judgment regarding Del Baggio's character. It was a mistake and it was my fault," Leiweke said. "But we certainly were not trying to do anything detrimental to the future of the Predators in Nashville or anything detrimental to the NHL."
Fair enough, and not especially a shock. Best of all, the story does have something of a ring of truth to it. Unlike some NHL franchises, the Sommet Center is owned and operated by a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Predators -- which would mean that theoretically Del Baggio could have very well bartered the management rights to the facility if he had ever gotten majority control of the Predators.
But now, with Del Baggio's world collapsing all around him, he's got other things to worry about than being cut off by his former buddies. Now can everyone just please move along now?
