Aaron, Kemp, Cuomo looking to buy team

Big names have formed a corporation to make a sports acquisition.

NEW YORK (AP) — The names are eye-catching: Hank Aaron, Jack Kemp, Mario Cuomo.

They are board members for Sports Properties Acquisition Corp., which may someday own a professional franchise. A so-called “blank check” company, Sports Properties raised $216 million in an initial public offering of stock in January.

Now it just needs to find something to buy.

“They are very solid and have access to significant capital and are well-steeped in baseball and baseball tradition,” Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball’s chief operating officer, wrote in an e-mail. “In our opinion this is a very attractive group.”

According to its charter, Sports Properties seeks to make a purchase in the sports, leisure or entertainment industries. Perhaps that will mean an MLB, NBA or NHL team, or maybe something less glamorous, such as a stadium or a regional sports network.

Sports Properties is one of the groups reviewing the financial books of the Chicago Cubs, who are for sale, a person with knowledge of the company’s dealings said. The person requested anonymity because the process is ongoing.

The idea for Sports Properties started as casual conversation at a meeting of the Medallion Financial Corp. board of directors, which includes Aaron, the former home run king, and Cuomo, the ex-New York governor.

Medallion, befitting its name, originally invested in taxi medallions, or licenses. President Andrew Murstein was saying how nothing has consistently increased in value over the years like those medallions. Aaron countered that sports franchises had.

Murstein did some research and discovered he was right. Now he’s the vice chairman of Sports Properties. Kemp, the former NFL quarterback, Republican congressman and vice presidential nominee, serves as chairman.

The president and CEO is Tony Tavares, who has run baseball and hockey teams. He oversaw the Angels and Mighty Ducks for Disney, then was picked by MLB as president of the Montreal Expos while they relocated to become the Washington Nationals.

The big names are more than eye candy. Board members believe that pro sports leagues will want to be associated with such a group, for its experience and the public relations boost.

“We think it makes us unique,” Kemp said. “I would say we’re qualified to be good owners, if that’s the route we choose to go.”

A sports franchise won’t always go to the highest bidder, said Murstein, who sat with Aaron and baseball commissioner Bud Selig during Game 4 of the World Series last fall.

“The commissioners and the league owners are very protective about who owns teams,” Murstein said. “It does not come down to dollars and cents. A league could have irreparable harm by taking in the wrong owner.”

Sports Properties could leverage its current funds to more than $1 billion, Kemp said. The record price for an MLB team was $660 million for the Boston Red Sox in 2002.

“It’s a great time to be sitting with a lot of cash, because everybody is having a liquidity crunch these days, and nobody has financing,” Murstein said.

The NFL isn’t an option because the league doesn’t allow corporate ownership, Murstein said. But an NBA, NHL or MLB franchise is a possibility, as is a NASCAR or European soccer team. The company does not want to get into a public bidding war, Kemp said.

As a special-purpose acquisition company, Sports Properties has 24 months — until Jan. 17, 2010 — to make a deal. Otherwise, the company will be liquidated.

If Sports Properties buys a team, it will be in a big market and have a brand name, Murstein said, because that’s the type that offers the opportunity to increase revenue. He considers the Cubs to fit that description.

DuPuy called the composition of an ownership group “the most important consideration to MLB and the commissioner whenever a team is sold.” But big names alone aren’t enough, said Chuck Greenberg, who heads the sports industry group for law firm Pepper Hamilton LLP.

“It gets you in the door. Then you have to have the right story and the right answers,” said Greenberg, the principal owner of three minor league baseball franchises.

That means an effective organizational structure. For MLB, that would have to include designating one person to run the team, DuPuy wrote.

That person would probably be Tavares depending on the sport, Murstein said.

Whoever it is, the mandate would be to pay for the top executives and the best players.

“You have to have someone who spends money. You can’t run this on a shoestring budget,” Murstein said of the ideal sports owner. “You have to be prepared to lose money, and know that going into it.”

Asked which owners he admired, Murstein said, “People will laugh at this name, but probably George Steinbrenner is right toward the top of it.

“You have to admire people that constantly want to win,” he said of the New York Yankees owner. “It’s very easy for a team owner to not spend money.”