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Could Vince McMahon buy the Panthers

TheAmericanDream

By TheAmericanDream,
in Carolina Panthers

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NanceUSMC Newbie

NanceUSMC

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

You must not understand how big the range of wealth is. McMahon is Trump-type wealth... there's some cash, there's some real estate, there's shares of big time stock, and there are massive amounts of debt and/or huge expenses (in McMahon's case). To you and I, those guys are mega rich. To the really, really rich like the Kahns, Richardsons, Fords, Jones, etc... those are bush leaguers.

To buy the Panthers, the league will require a single individual to pony up like a 70% (from memory here, might be a bit less or a bit more) cash payment on $2-3 billion (and possible $4 billion) franchise with only a small portion of that money coming from financing (loans, etc...) with the remainder coming from minority stakeholders. Then, and only then, the group of 31 remaining owners will go into a room and pretty much decide if they want that purchaser to join the club. If they say no, then it's over. If they say yes, then that person has to come up with the remaining balance and secure stadium rights and show that they have enough operating cash on hand to cover the team for the next couple of years without any revenue from the team.

In short, Vince McMahon owning the Panthers is as likely as an Andre the Giant out of retirement tour.

 

(edit to add: Vince McMahon net worth is $1.57 billion as of 2017. He simply does not have the liquid assets to make the move.)

 

The league requires the principle owner to put up 30%, and take on no more than $250M in debt to purchase the team...  

 

Quote

The NFL has altered its ownership rules in recent years, but a single incoming owner must still control at least 30% of the equity of the team to satisfy league rules and debt limits are capped at $250 million. That means one person must write a check for a minimum of $600 million if they want to be the controlling owner.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/12/18/here-are-12-potential-new-owners-of-the-carolina-panthers/#5e3e7411be16

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Khyber53 Grand Master

Khyber53

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, NanceUSMC said:

 

The league requires the principle owner to put up 30%, and take on no more than $250M in debt to purchase the team...  

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/12/18/here-are-12-potential-new-owners-of-the-carolina-panthers/#5e3e7411be16

Wow, I got the numbers reversed. It's still going to be close to $1 billion out of pocket.

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NanceUSMC Newbie

NanceUSMC

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

Wow, I got the numbers reversed. It's still going to be close to $1 billion out of pocket.

Yeah, I thought it was more than 30% too...  $600M, I'm almost sure he could find a way to come up with...  He might have to sell off more than the $100M he just cashed out of WWE, but $600M might be within reach...  $900 is much more of an issue...  Now, coming up with $750M and dropping another $250M financed maybe?

As for what kind of owner he would be......  Hard to know for sure...

Clearly, he's an excellent businessman and showman...  I can't imagine him ever being a 'cheap' owner, one that is afraid to pay the top GM's or the top Coaches what it takes to get them in house and to retain them once they're here...  I would assume the 'fan experience' would be overhauled and be quite a spectacle...  I'd also expect the Panthers as a whole would see a significant increase in national popularity, again assuming he puts his media resources behind the team...  for example, you'd likely start seeing random Panther merchandise on Raw and such, or more former Panthers in the ring some (I'm lookin' at you DeAngelo), etc, etc...  The crossover potential between the team and the WWE empire shouldn't be underestimated, particularly in terms of the amount of (again potential) national exposure and boosted revenue for the team (i.e. generating out of market fans, sales, etc)...

How he applied his experience as the Commish of the XFL would go a long way towards determining his level of success...  if he applied that knowledge, to ownership of the team, it would clearly be a win...  unlike most other potential owners, he's 'owned' before, so he wouldn't be coming in with zero experience...  he knows why it failed, how it failed and (hopefully) how to keep from failing again...  if he allowed football people, to do football things, that'd be a win...  if he tried to be owner, GM, coach and QB, well, heh.....

His ties to the area (born and raised in NC, met his wife going to church in NC, married in NC, daughter was married in Raleigh, etc) would suggest that he'd be less likely to relocate the team...  To me, this is perhaps the biggest issue on the table when discussing a new owner (from a fan perspective, of course)...  I'd prefer an owner as committed to keeping the team in NC, as he/she is to the team itself...

The negatives, of course, are there as well...  His 'persona' makes it difficult to differentiate the real man from the one we see on TV...  it's hard to tell just WHO the Vince McMahon OWNER would be...  Would he simply throw his entertainment experience, knowledge and resources behind the team, or would he try to get in the ring with them (a la Jerry Jones)?

All in all, I'm intrigued by the possibility...  I can't call myself an advocate for him (or anyone) yet, but I have to admit I'm curious and intrigued...

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Khyber53 Grand Master

Khyber53

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, NanceUSMC said:

Yeah, I thought it was more than 30% too...  $600M, I'm almost sure he could find a way to come up with...  He might have to sell off more than the $100M he just cashed out of WWE, but $600M might be within reach...  $900 is much more of an issue...  Now, coming up with $750M and dropping another $250M financed maybe?

As for what kind of owner he would be......  Hard to know for sure...

Clearly, he's an excellent businessman and showman...  I can't imagine him ever being a 'cheap' owner, one that is afraid to pay the top GM's or the top Coaches what it takes to get them in house and to retain them once they're here...  I would assume the 'fan experience' would be overhauled and be quite a spectacle...  I'd also expect the Panthers as a whole would see a significant increase in national popularity, again assuming he puts his media resources behind the team...  for example, you'd likely start seeing random Panther merchandise on Raw and such, or more former Panthers in the ring some (I'm lookin' at you DeAngelo), etc, etc...  The crossover potential between the team and the WWE empire shouldn't be underestimated, particularly in terms of the amount of (again potential) national exposure and boosted revenue for the team (i.e. generating out of market fans, sales, etc)...

How he applied his experience as the Commish of the XFL would go a long way towards determining his level of success...  if he applied that knowledge, to ownership of the team, it would clearly be a win...  unlike most other potential owners, he's 'owned' before, so he wouldn't be coming in with zero experience...  he knows why it failed, how it failed and (hopefully) how to keep from failing again...  if he allowed football people, to do football things, that'd be a win...  if he tried to be owner, GM, coach and QB, well, heh.....

His ties to the area (born and raised in NC, met his wife going to church in NC, married in NC, daughter was married in Raleigh, etc) would suggest that he'd be less likely to relocate the team...  To me, this is perhaps the biggest issue on the table when discussing a new owner (from a fan perspective, of course)...  I'd prefer an owner as committed to keeping the team in NC, as he/she is to the team itself...

The negatives, of course, are there as well...  His 'persona' makes it difficult to differentiate the real man from the one we see on TV...  it's hard to tell just WHO the Vince McMahon OWNER would be...  Would he simply throw his entertainment experience, knowledge and resources behind the team, or would he try to get in the ring with them (a la Jerry Jones)?

All in all, I'm intrigued by the possibility...  I can't call myself an advocate for him (or anyone) yet, but I have to admit I'm curious and intrigued...

In the end, though, there are a couple of things that will keep him out of the club, even if he scrapes together the money and backers: the XFL and that steroid problem WWE had a decade or two ago and his culpability in it. 

In the end, it won't be a celebrity that buys the franchise. It will be an industrialist or retail heir that most folks haven't heard of. If we're lucky, the person has strong and unbreakable ties to the Carolinas.

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NanceUSMC Newbie

NanceUSMC

Posted
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1 hour ago, Khyber53 said:

In the end, though, there are a couple of things that will keep him out of the club, even if he scrapes together the money and backers: the XFL and that steroid problem WWE had a decade or two ago and his culpability in it. 

In the end, it won't be a celebrity that buys the franchise. It will be an industrialist or retail heir that most folks haven't heard of. If we're lucky, the person has strong and unbreakable ties to the Carolinas.

I'm still holding out hope for Sir Richard Branson or Elon Musk! ;-)

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