Things seem pretty quiet on the Grizzlies sale front. Last week, the Commercial Appeal reported that prospective owner Robert Pera was seeking local partners in his bid to purchase the Grizzlies.
The implication is that potential local partners would want something more than just a minority share in a team whose profits are likely to be small in even the best of times, and that Pera might be willing to offer other incentives, including possibly re-instating the right of first refusal language local minority partners once had with Michael Heisley, or perhaps even strengthening the team’s lease with the city in return for local buy-in.
This is a subject I wrote about — as a matter of informed speculation — in June, shortly after Pera’s bid went public:
Instead of buying the locals out, convince them to buy back in. In exchange for locals purchasing a more substantial minority share, re-institute the old contract language giving locals matching rights on a future sale or some other considerations in terms of blocking a potential relocation.
So I’m glad to see that notion flower into something potentially tangible.
Around the time of the CA’s Pera story, George Lapides reported on his morning radio program that former sports agent and Sacramento Kings executive — and, apparently, current Philadelphia 76ers minority owner — Jason Levien was involved with the Pera bid, joining former Houston Rockets business executive David Carlock on the shortlist of people who have been identified in conjunction with the Pera bid.
