Football
Associated Press 21y

Sabres still in financial limbo

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The bankrupt Buffalo Sabres have projected
they will use nearly all of their allotted $25 million in financing
by the end of the NHL season, emphasizing the urgency of finding a
new team owner.

"We'll get through the season. That's what we've said. That's
what the balances show,'' Sabres vice president of finance John
Marsh said Monday after appearing before a creditors meeting at the
U.S. Trustees office in Buffalo.

Marsh said the Sabres already have drawn $8 million on their
court-approved debtors-in-possession loan, and expect to draw
between $12 million and $15 million more by the time their regular
season ends on April 6.

The Sabres are unlikely to make the playoffs -- where they could
generate additional revenue. They are last in the NHL with 48
points, 17 out of postseason contention.

Barring the team being sold, the Sabres would be in jeopardy of
folding once their financing runs out because it is unlikely they
would be granted additional loans.

The Sabres have been in limbo since the NHL took over operating
control of the team last June. One attempt to sell them unraveled
three weeks ago when Buffalo businessman Mark Hamister suspended
his purchase bid because of a lack of financing.

The NHL has since begun negotiating a potential sale with
Rochester billionaire B. Thomas Golisano, who has renewed his
interest in the team after his initial offer was rejected by the
league last November.

NHL attorney William Brown declined to discuss the progress of
negotiations, citing a confidentiality agreement between the league
and Golisano.

Golisano's initial bid of about $33 million failed to satisfy
conditions set by Adelphia Communications, one of the nation's
largest cable television companies and the Sabres' largest
creditor.

Golisano's new offer would have to be at least $50 million,
taking into account the money the team has drawn on its
debtors-in-possession financing and to cover a $22.9 million
concessions loan taken out to build HSBC Arena, the Sabres home.

The Sabres also owe a reported $7 million to several unsecured
creditors.

Adelphia, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last
summer, has considerable say in determining the Sabres' next owner.
The company is owed about $130 million that former Sabres owner and
former Adelphia CEO John Rigas used to buy and run the team in the
1990s.

Golisano has not returned several messages left by The
Associated Press. Members of his ownership group have declined to
comment over the past few days.

Syracuse-based attorney Stephen Donato has been appointed to
represent the Sabres' unsecured creditors, a group that includes
former star Gilbert Perreault.

Perreault, who remains listed as the team's corporate and
community relations liaison, is owed an undisclosed amount in
deferred compensation, said Buffalo accountant Eugene Bellis, who
attended the creditors meeting representing Perreault.

A second creditors meeting is scheduled for March 26.

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