Quote:
Originally Posted by spotlight
He just sold the St-Michaels Majors a few months ago.. as for the 67's staying at SBP after the renos are done, not a chance. Jeff Hunt is part of OSEG and will be playing in the reno'd arena essentially rent free in a much better footing with concessions belonging to him etc... it'll be even more of a cash cow for mr. Hunt
Melynk won't be bringing a junior team to SBP the market can't handle a 3rd junior team (67's and olympiques already being there) 4 hockey teams total for this market would be crazy over saturation
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I agree with you. The Ottawa market can hardly support a NHL and a Jr. Hockey team. Moreover, the Olympiques are getting a brand new Bob Guertin arena, thanks to the Quebec government.
Melnyk would not bring in a Jr team to compete with the 67's but what he could do is entice Jeff Hunt to jump ship and bring his hockey team over to SBP.
Very few people know much about the OSEG deal. It's all hush-hush and lopsided with three guys with lots and lots of money and power and two other guys with not so much money and not so much power.
When the Renegades folded in 2006, Jeff Hunt thought he had a strong financial angel in a guy named Ernest Anderson who had an outfit called Golden Gates Fund. Turned out Anderson was then under investigation by Ontario Securities for running a Ponzi scheme and bilking millions off pensioners and little old ladies. Hunt is not wealthy enough to take on a CFL franchise on his own, let alone manage one. This is in the Fall of 2006.
That's when Howard Sokolowski, then a co-owner of the Toronto Argonauts had a business talk with John Ruddy about asquiring the Renegades' franchise. Sokolowski had been given the task by CFL to find a suitable buyer for the franchise that had been taken away from the Renegades. Sokolowski and Ruddy met with Jeff Hunt shortly afterwards.
Jeff Hunt was to be a front man and he lobbied Larry O'Brien while watching the 67's together. Bill Shenkman and Roger Greenberg came in afterwards when things looked promising. All of this was related by Jeff Hunt to Maria Cook of the Ottawa Citizen and that interview was published in the Ottawa Citizen in 2009.
The agreement between Ruddy, Shenkman, Greenberg and Hunt was early in 2007, a full year before the subprime maelstrom in the US and the demise of all kinds of big businesses on both sides of the Atlantic. The world economy is still reeling from this made-in-the USA disaster.
That was in 2007 and we are now in 2012 with all the major state economies bleeding massively. In Canada, condos are being built right, left and centre while the eligible buyers are over their heads in debt. The future is not very promising in terms of financial, political and social stability.
How does OSEG fit into this? Not very well.
Nobody is talking but the general feeling is that OSEG is not getting sufficient business and office tenants to satisfy their business plan and to help pay the cost of a CFL venture on which they have already deposited $7M. Jeff Hunt has money but not as much as the three amigos. He put his hockey team in the pot as his share in the money venture.He will be getting his investment back as his share in time-related profit-sharing scheme known as a "waterfall". OSEG will get their $7M CFL deposit early in the sharing process so there is little risk for them. Where Jeff Hunt stands in the "cream-off-the-top" process is not publicly known.
So what happens if the OSEG partnership turns sour? What would happen if Melnyk has a much better offer for Hunt? Money talks. Melnyk has a NHL team, an arena alongside the 417 with lots of parking, a well-established hockey support staff, and lots of cash. That may become very interesting to Hunt if the 67's are successful at SBP, financially as well as on the ice.
Time will tell. We may be in for surprises down the line.
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