Unless a buyer steps up to purchase the New Jersey Devils in the next month, the National Hockey League will take over control of the franchise until one is found, according to Forbes.
Current New Jersey owner Jeff Vanderbeek is considering filing for bankruptcy as the cash-strapped owner controls a team that has large cash flow issues and is in a lot of debt.
Sources report that though there are many suitors looking to purchase the team, the NHL is in a hurry for Vanderbeek to be removed as the owner of the team; he's racked up $230 million of debt and reportedly missed his first payment on a recently restructured bank loan. If the NHL can't strike a deal with a new owner within the next 30 days, the league will take over control of the Devils.
The NHL doesn't want the Devils to follow the same path that the Phoenix Coyotes did, when the team filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and entered an brutal period that kept fans, taxpayers, and players in limbo for four years as rumors circulated that the team may move out of Arizona. The Coyotes went through a long lease negotiation with the city of Glendale and were eventually purchased for $170 million from the NHL by an ownership group named IceArizona, headed by Anthony LeBlanc and George Gosbee,
Forbes reports that if the Devils don't find an owner, rather than file for bankruptcy the NHL will fund and operate the team as it seeks to find a buyer. Forbes also reports that the Devils owe the league $25 million and have a payroll of an estimated $50 million for the start of the 2013-14 season.
There are a few potential candidates willing to take the Devils off the NHL's hands. One such candidate includes New Jersey attorney Andrew Barroway, who reportedly lent the team $30 million and had been working with his ownership group to facilitate a deal to take over the team. There are mixed reports as to whether or not he's pulled his offer or remains in the mix.
While Barroway's intentions remain a bit of a mystery, Philadelphia 76ers owner Joshua Harris is very much in the running to try and purchase the hockey club. Harris has owned the Sixers since 2011.
Reports indicate that the timetable for the sale of the Devils is open-ended and neither group is that close to striking a deal, so it seems as though the NHL will be taking over the team for at least the start of this season.
The good news for fans of the hockey franchise is that the NHL has said that no matter who takes over the team, the Devils will continue to play at the Prudential Center in Newark.
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