Dang

SEG would be silly not to do everything they can to accept this offer.

Its clear proof that the perception of value is powerful.

Take the money and run Hutchy

The Wildcats can't do worse than Hutchy....or can they?

Read something online that the entity offering to buy cats is majority owned by SEG anyway..... can anyone confirm this?

Apparently its a Perth guy and life long fan. His business partners are based in SA

Am I the only person who's uncomfortable at the prospect of conglomerate investment groups paying inflated values and then seeking to operate the clubs like an arms-length profit making venture?

"I can't see anything going wrong with that" as they say

I love it, hopefully it's true and we can get the global game to the forefront. How good would that be, I all honesty I don’t believe it.

I'm all for it take the money and run Hutchy. This can only be a good thing, assuming it's not a BS offer of course, it will raise the value of all NBL teams, real or perceived value is irrelevant.

Apparently it's Mark Arena, a Perth boy and wildcard fan.
Gives me encouragement that he is buying the team for the right reasons.

Mark made his $ in the cybersecurity world.

The Wildcats can't do worse than Hutchy....or can they?

So you think it would be a secure investment? LOL

Fucking off SEG is priceless, you can't attribute a $ amount to it.

Fair call LV.

If it's someone with a passion for the game that's great but would they need to pay overs to do whatever they want to do?

Word on the street is Bendat didn't want to sell to Hutchy, but was unable to find anyone better.

The other interested party was a charity who thought they could run a pro sports franchise. Scary.

I 100% get that Perth fans are sick of Hutchy

But more generally, with all these valuations, $40mil for United/Perth, $30mil JJs etc. What's the obsession? Does it really do anything for the NBL if someone pays those figures?

Shouldn't we be more concerned about who's running it and how they'll run it. An arms length capital investment group will treat it like an investment that needs to yield a return.

If they are worth that much , then the salary cap needs to be significantly higher for us to attract those guys back from Europe or Japan.

Exactly Ballman.

While it would be cool for us junkies to get some of those Japan guys back, they wouldn't bring an extra dollar or eye ball to the league imo.

LoveBroker - you need to add Teflon Mills to your list!

@ antantant, they lift the standard, the only reason Cooks is back is because kings matched his b league money, Motum might have played in Australia a lot more and how would the cats look with Kay playing for them, etc. you then get more eyeballs as you put it.

Gleeson ain't coming back. Everyone needs to let that go.
You'd think any owners would be better than Hutcy but there's enough evidence to suggest otherwise (Adel??).
Mills would be the #1 to go. Everything after that would be up on the air

PW, where have I heard that one before?

Brilliant reply Dave - it totally didn't come to mind when I wrote the post. Now something about great mates and a jazz club, amongst other things, is at the forefront of my mind.

Done deal now!

https://www.watoday.com.au/business/companies/craig-hutchison-to-sell-nbl-s-perth-wildcats-for-40m-20240711-p5jsrg.html

4x in 3 years, that is unheard off! Especially when they tick over 1 million profit a year! Insane. There better be some TV rights coming soon or hope these guys have deep pockets!

Maybe now the players can get more coin, raise the cap so that not only marquee and import players get a decent coin.

Yeah but only 2 NBL teams are making a profit, so it's impossible to increase the cap. The wildcats are also at cap for most home game so they cant get any extra revenue there. They need some sort of decent paying TV deal or revisit the asian super league concept! I'm sure Vlahov would love to share his insight!

Actually, the NBL has 8 of the 10 teams currently turning a profit.

Might be of surprise that the professional league in Australia that only has two profitable clubs is the AFL... they're just bankrolled by a massive TV deal and the money gets shared across all 18 (soon 19) clubs so it’s of next to no impact on the league.

Maybe now the players can get more coin, raise the cap so that not only marquee and import players get a decent coin.

Yeah but only 2 NBL teams are making a profit, so it's impossible to increase the cap.

Pretty sure the cap has gone up pretty much every year for the past decade.

They need some sort of decent paying TV deal or revisit the asian super league concept! I'm sure Vlahov would love to share his insight

Yeah Vlahov was the biggest proponent of setting up the asian league, when he owned the team with LL. Was racking up the FF points seeing all his mates up there! Might have been premature then, but maybe now with LK at the helm it may have a chance to justify the team's value's now!

We're on the same page - I wanted to reference the mysterious HK-based Oriant Vlahov gained sponsorship from, a reference for the old timers.

Back on-topic...

Brisbane Broncos (NRL) market capitalisation is $87mil (ASX-listed).

Recent share transactions value Melbourne Victory (A-League) at $40mil (unlisted company), although they may become outrightly owned by the dodgy 777 Partners (football fans would be aware of their questionable spending spree around the world).

I can't recall any other valuations as high as $40mil in Australia. The NBL are lifting big time.

Wildcats #2 in the country? Dayummmm.

Just to clarify I meant to write 'actual realised transactions' in place of valuations.

Yeah Vlahov also has some massive Indo Inevstor "mates" too that helped prop the team up for a while. I believe he still flies up there for camps

Vlahov did so much for the club with very little at his disposal.

It's hard to quantify but he possibly is one of the best NBL owners in dollar-for-dollar terms.

Not sure if you are being serious or sarcastic? Is this AV??? haha

Haha, no.

He had to hustle in Asia and via various other means to keep the club going.

I respect him for that.

Anyone heard of this new owner? Is he flashy like Laurence Escalante? Surprised he didnt buy the team!

This reminds me of the time I was playing roulette with Vlahov at the casino.

I overheard the other player at the table whisper to his wife: "He used to play for Perth Glory!"

The less flashier the better since those types are BS artists who eventually get found out.

Yeah I suppose we don't need another Eddie Groves! Hope it all works out and the fans benefit most!