Find someone to go halfsies with you, maybe?
Who'd a thought it
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Find someone to go halfsies with you, maybe?
Who'd a thought it
And I guess here's the story for it:
On eBay: Anchorage Aces, minimum $1.5 million
NO BIDS YET: Owner hopes team, in Chapter 11, attracts $2.3 million to pay debts.
By Josh Niva
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: June 26, 2002)
Somewhere in the cyberswap meet known as eBay, stuffed between a near mint copy of Fantastic Four No. 12 comic book and a Barry Manilow checkbook cover, sit the Anchorage Aces.
Yes, the West Coast Hockey League franchise is listed for sale on the Web site that bills itself as "The World's Online Marketplace," where items common and rare, new and used, expensive ($5,500 is the current bid for Fantastic Four No. 12) and downright cheap ($8 for Manilow checkbook cover) are auctioned to the highest bidder.
"I just wanted the public to know that the team is for sale," said Aces owner Mike Cusack Jr. "It's just another marketing source to get it out to the public."
The Aces, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month and carry a debt of more than $2 million, are listed in the category Business, Office and Industrial: Businesses for Sale. That aisle of the market mostly is composed of Web sites and domains. As of Tuesday evening, less than four days remained in the auction and no official bids had been made on the team. The Aces were the only professional sports franchise for sale on the site.
A vague, four-sentence description accompanies the team's sale page. It closes by listing Cusack's e-mail address as a contact for serious inquiries.
A minimum of $1.5 million can get a bidder in on the Aces auction. A bid of $2.3 million allows the interested party to use eBay's Buy It Now feature, essentially skipping the timed formalities and instantly ending the auction.
Cusack said he had never conducted business on eBay as a buyer or seller before placing his team on the site, but he was quickly impressed by its effectiveness. Within four hours of listing the team, he said he received a $2 million offer via e-mail from a group in California.
"We're talking to them," Cusack said.
WCHL officials don't care how Cusack gets the money, as long as the money's legit.
"This is an unusual way of doing it," said Barry Kemp, chairman of the WCHL's board of governors. "If it works, you may see NHL teams on eBay.
"We don't have a problem with the method. Our position is, bring us an offer ... it will be accepted or rejected based on its merit. It won't be accepted or rejected based on desperation."
Kemp added that any sale of the Aces would not become official until the new owners are approved by the league.
Cusack said an ideal selling price is $2.2 million, which would allow him to pay off team debts owed to more than 100 creditors. Last week, Cusack was in negotiations to sell the team to a local group, but the offer was rejected by a creditor with a lien against the team.
"There have been offers," Cusack said, "but there's not enough money on the table to take care of the creditors."
Earlier this month, Cusack filed for personal Chapter 11 protection. Court documents listed debt of more than $4 million. Another Cusack-owned business, the Northern Lights Hotel, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month.
Cusack does have one less business headache to remedy, though. One floor of rooms in the Northern Lights Hotel, which the city closed in April because of fire code violations, was reopened Friday. Cusack said the building's second floor, which has 25 rooms, was booked by Saturday.
"It's just part of the process of getting some cash flow going so we can reorganize the hotel," Cusack said.
Cusack hopes to have other parts of the hotel open soon. He said a city attorney was inspecting the hotel's bar on Tuesday afternoon, which could allow Cusack to utilize his new familiarity with eBay -- the site lists various plastic beer pitchers, each at a minimum bid of $5.
courtesy of Anchorage Daily News: http://www.adn.com/front/story/1316183p-1435170c.html
Is this team any good? :D
I've never heard of them?? are they NHL?
They'll be good once I get to them!:)
*tries to remember ebay password*
h
I'll bid $10 on it :D Thats about what its worth to me :p
It's AA.
$100 increments. Hey lannie..we'll split the cost, and we can grab Belfour from NHL, he's not goin' anywhere soon...:D
h
Will you ever land this freakin' plane, Goalieboy? :D Besides - he is goin' somewhere sometime soon ... His contract is up with us as of 07/01 ... and rumor has it ~ he's goin' to NY ... :DQuote:
Originally posted by hockyfan
grab Belfour from NHL, he's not goin' anywhere soon...:D
I heard the team is awful, btw ...
come on you little sideliner! get in there and bid. wuss.
wow, I'm from anchorage and I remember when the whole town got thier pants wet over them.
bummer.
Quote:
Originally posted by LanSite
[BWill you ever land this freakin' plane, Goalieboy? :D Besides - he is goin' somewhere sometime soon ... His contract is up with us as of 07/01 ... and rumor has it ~ he's goin' to NY ... :D
I heard the team is awful, btw ... [/B]
Yes, if he comes to NY I will do harm to Glen Sather.
and I said before...the team won't be awful once I get to them:p
h