Freeman vs. the Preds

[deanwormer]

http://www.tennessean.com/story/mon...-owner-files-suit-against-team-250m/86038666/


You have got to be kidding me....

Click to read more...

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Was going to have a beer tonight. Going straight to scotch.

 

[Cashville]

Definitely not a frivolous lawsuit; team could have been moved back in ~2007 without Freeman and his loan guarantees. Not the end of the world, but a sad situation. To me, the suit timing is actually being driven by the Vegas expansion; Freeman wants his shares revalued to their pre-dilution level to increase his cut of the expansion fees (expansions fees go straight to existing ownership groups on a pro rata basis as noted in the article).

 

[Jarnberg]

We never have a boring summer

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Well now we know why we won't be spending any money of free agents.

Jesus.

 

[PredsV82]

This sucks but I've been wondering why we heard absolute zip about Freeman in the last few years. I also wondered how Cigarran has managed to be the managing partner despite holding a relatively small stake in the team.

Now, that's said, Freeman apparently had significant money problems for a while and so I'm not ready to concede that his missing of capital calls was only due to chicanery.

BUT dammit to hell another summer full of negative news is coming, I'm sure

 

[Preds Partisan]

It's not even a bad news Friday yet. Remember how every bad new story was on Fridays? I'm ignoring this until mañana.

 

[predfan98]

It's not even a bad news Friday yet. Remember how every bad new story was on Fridays? I'm ignoring this until mañana.

Hahaha.... I vote for this approach

I have also wondered where freeman was the past few years.

Interesting story

 

[maplepred]

Does Brett Wilson still own a stake of the team?
If so he is worth 1.5 billion dollars and I'm sure he could just buy out and be the main owner if he desired to

 

[Preds Partisan]

Wilson and Freeman co-own, or used to own, a soccer team and minor league baseball team together so I guess they're buds or business partners or what ever.

 

[jwhouk]

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....

 

[Marty Party]

Eh, just give this Freeman fella some Preds swag and he'll be good to go.

An unscheduled visit from Gnash, a firm hand shake and smile from Sean Henry when SH gets around to it, full Lexus Lounge access for the Ottawa Senators game this season, Ford Ice Center free skates rental the Friday after Thanksgiving, a free Zamboni ride at a pre-season game of his choosing, and a team autographed jersey.

If he wants more than that, then more power to him.

 

[Adz]

Sweeten it a little--make it so his points don't cycle off and give him a nifty 2013 (?) calendar--the one with all the dogs--they were so cute! Also, and this will do the trick I know...FREE PARKING!!!*



*for the rodeo and tractor pull.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

You know it's only a matter of time...

"Hey guys, it sounds like you're having some possible ownership issues and might need to cut some salary. How bout this trade to alleviate some future salary?

Josi+Forsberg

for

Desharnais, Emelin, 5th round pick"

 

[Enoch]

Unbelievable. THis has to be a first.

 

[glenngineer]

A couple of things.

1. Nate Rau wrote the article. Enough said. Since some of you may not know this guy, he and David Climer have had it out for the Predators since day 1 so this doesn't surprise me at all.

2. It's a filed lawsuit. It doesn't mean that he's going to win. It doesn't mean it even goes to trial. Honestly, when is the first court date? Usually when you file a lawsuit it takes a while for anything to happen so unless they've got a trial date soon, I wouldn't worry too much about this.

3. Everyone gets their you know what in a wad anytime something bad happens around here and here comes the woe is me crowd. Stop. Please. I get it, it sucks but thinking the world is crashing down around us is not even close to the truth. We have no idea the implications and since most of us aren't attorneys, let the big boys play it out in court.

4. If Freeman owns 48% of the team, he is the majority owner and should've been leading it. I thought Cigarran and the others bought more in to it when Cigarran took over as the face of the franchise making Freeman lose a bunch of shares because of his financial issues. Not sure but if this guy is the majority owner then 1, act like it and 2, be more involved.

5. Personal opinion here. I think Freeman is a glory/attention hound. I think he likes to be the center of attention. Cigarran and the other owners are business men and want the business to succeed but also for the team to succeed. I view Freeman as a poor mans Mark Cuban.

6. All that said, does anyone really think a judge is going to give a settlement of $250 million to Freeman? Doubtful. There will be a settlement long before then is my guess or some sort of buyout of Freeman to get him out of this mess.

7. Second personal opinion. I just wish Wilson would buy the team already. We'd have one owner that loves hockey and leave it at that.

 

[Kebs]

Well now we know why we won't be spending any money of free agents.

Jesus.

Budget for free agents has already been set for the next couple of years. This wouldn't have any effect on this year's (or the next) spending, and plus it hasn't gone to court yet. IF it does reach court, any decent Lawyer worth their weight in salt could tie this up for years until a desired outcome is reached (settlement).

 

[PredsV82]

Yeah right glenn, he's such an attention hound he's been virtually invisible for the last 4 years or so.

I do think the pending expansion money is what has driven this, but the most relevant claim that needs proving is the whether Cigarran deliberately didn't tell Freeman about the capital calls, and then used Freeman failure to pay as an excuse to dilute his shares. If that's true, Cigarran needs to be the one to go.

Freeman saved this team from Balsillie and until there is proof that he is in the wrong here I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

[triggrman]

Not the expansion money but the $500M sale price of the expansion.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Yeah right glenn, he's such an attention hound he's been virtually invisible for the last 4 years or so.

I do think the pending expansion money is what has driven this, but the most relevant claim that needs proving is the whether Cigarran deliberately didn't tell Freeman about the capital calls, and then used Freeman failure to pay as an excuse to dilute his shares. If that's true, Cigarran needs to be the one to go.

Freeman saved this team from Balsillie and until there is proof that he is in the wrong here I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I'm on the fence about it. I'm sure we will learn more in the days ahead.

I think it is interesting that Freeman claims that Cogen left because of Cigarran's management of the team. That was an interesting bombshell.

 

[PredsV82]

Not the expansion money but the $500M sale price of the expansion.

Well that's what I meant. Preds get 1/30 of that 500m, so 16.67 million. Freeman would get more than 8 million of that if he owns 48%. Not sure how diluted his shares have been made but if he's down to 25% that's over 4 million less. That's enough to drive a lawsuit for sure

 

[Armourboy]

Wouldn't shock me they don't pay him an increased share then buy him out when it is all said and done.

 

[nomorekids]

I'm on the fence about it. I'm sure we will learn more in the days ahead.

I think it is interesting that Freeman claims that Cogen left because of Cigarran's management of the team. That was an interesting bombshell.

I tend to believe at least part of that. Freeman clearly has his own issues, but I stop short of calling Cigarran the good guy in all of this. He was the one that vetoed a done deal to bring Lecavalier here from Philly a couple of summers ago (a blessing as it were, he saved DP from himself) -- because of his grudge toward PHI. He was the one that shot his mouth off about how the Predators are going to be a cap team going forward...then clarified that he meant, "if you think about it in terms of Weber's real dollars taking the place of his cap hit." Then there was last year's draft, running around with his little gold hat. So if Freeman alleges that Cigarran was overbearing, reading people's emails, etc...and that turned Cogen off? I don't find it hard to believe.

With that said, Herb Fritch seems to the quieter and more collected one, and should probably be allowed to fulfill his desire to be the chairman of the group.

As for Freeman, as I said in the FA thread, he is asking for a ludicrous amount of money. If he wanted it in shares of the team, he would basically be asking for more than the team is worth. He is asking that his shares be returned to their pre-dilution state, saying that Cigarran angled him out of the group by failing to give him the opportunity to fulfill cash calls that he was obligated to. The irony here is that at the time, Freeman was of course having his own financial issues and likely would not have been able to meet the demand...but, that's neither here nor there...if what he says is true, he has a valid complaint.

As to the question about, "does the timing of this have anything to do with the expansion announcement, vis a vis the monies that are to be disbursed directly to the 30 owners and the consequent boost in franchise value?

Of course it does. He did this when he did it to boost the value of what he feels is rightfully his, and how much he could get if things were made right, as he sees it.

So, where do we stand?

GOOD:

1. This is a chancery court filing, and a complicated one. In my opinion, this will, after some posturing, get settled for far less than he's asking, and will basically end with his being paid a sum to walk away and divest himself entirely.

2. The Predators themselves are more a collateral party in the suit. The issue really lies between Cigarran and Freeman, and in the end it would likely be Cigarran who bears fiduciary responsibility.

3. This is very, very unlikely to have any bearing on operational budgeting for the Predators. While the filing seems like bad timing, I suspect that the organization and ownership have long known it was coming and that Freeman wasn't going to just fade silently into the night. They very likely knew this was when he was going to make his play.

BAD

1. Any turmoil is bad, when it comes to ownership. It calls to question just how stable or just how volatile things really are.

2. Freeman is the one that brought Brett Wilson to the table. They co-own a couple of other sporting ventures are friends. Could this have the potential to sour Wilson?

3. Maybe the most alarming thing is how dire our straits were financially, when things were supposedly on solid ground. The filings allude repeatedly to the team teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in 2009. I think, looking back, it all kind of adds up -- naming rights going to a tiny, virtually unknown and eventually revealed to be corrupt local business (the Sommet group). Advertising at all levels being smaller scale, local businesses. These types of things are the lifeblood of an organization like ours, where ticket prices are too low to really impact the balance sheet, even when you're selling out(and at the time, we most definitely weren't). We seem to be doing okay now, and I firmly believe that it's owed 100 percent to Cogen\Henry. I'm a little nervous that a group of business savvy guys were seemingly flying so blindly and so poorly, and it calls into question their decision making ability. A little less faith in ownership, through this.

4. Cigarran in particular through a fit when asked to guarantee the loans from CIT in 2009 to keep the team out of bankruptcy. He was quoted, in email, as saying that he would let the team go bankrupt and effectively dissolve if it came to it. In a sense, Freeman has done more to keep the team here than Cigarran ever has...but only one of them is looking to remain as a factor in the team's future.

So that's where it stands as I see it. It definitely bears watching, and while I"m not alarmed by it *yet,* there are some definite red flags to keep an eye on. I think it's interesting that the team's statement on the matter is "this is a matter for the league and its constitution states that these disputes must be settled at a league level," while Bill Daly told the Tennessean, "This is a matter between two owners, and while we're positive that this has no bearing on the health or stability of the Nashville Predators, it's not our place to get involved." So...which is it?

 

[jwhouk]

"What will it take to make you go away?"

Those words may be uttered in the whole process of this little lawsuit.

 

[nomorekids]

Wouldn't shock me they don't pay him an increased share then buy him out when it is all said and done.

I think that's his ideal endgame. In no scenario does this end with Freeman still in the ownership group. I just haven't decided who truly is the good guy and who is the bad guy in all of this.