Tuesday, August 27, 2013

If Minnesota is building the stadium, and the team is putting up some cash, it seems Minnesota should take a security interest in team ownership, in case the team [aka Wilf] fails to perform contract obligations.

Rather than all this audit posturing, having a chance to see Wilf finances, take that security interest, and perfect it properly while seeing who has a senior security interest and in what amount. If Wilf papers up ownership, that's bad faith, and put the stadium on ice until he conforms to decent dealing. However, despite the New Jersey court decision and the judge's castigating language toward the Wilf clan, the expectation should be good faith arms length dealing. Only if that fails to be the case would a drastic negotiation posture be merited.

Who knows? If the New Jersey judge really hammers the Wilfs on damages [including punitive damages for being bad actors] and the Wilf wealth is actually too thin or illiquid, Minnesota could end up being the next Green Bay; in terms of public ownership of the team. Remote as a possibly, yes, but intriguing as a thought experiment.

Minnesota getting all those revenue streams that go with ownership, the sweets Zygi has been allowed and the extra benefits he wants to negotiate, seat license obscenities and all, if that were State revenue, nobody would need to pay taxes. Well, that perhaps exagerates things.

Yet -- All the purple profit might end up flowing to public coffers - as with Green Bay. And there would be an end finally to all BS threats an innuendo about possibly "having to" move the team.