SUNDAY, 4:03pm: The Magic aren’t for sale, chairman Dan DeVos tells Josh Robbins of Orlando Sentinel.
“As a family, the topic of selling the team has not come up,” DeVos wrote in an e-mail. “In fact, we are enjoying the team more than ever. Especially my father. We are very excited about our focus on winning a NBA championship. The family is fully engaged and active with the team. All four generations. The Magic are not for sale.”
SATURDAY, 8:43am: A league source tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com that in addition to the Bucks, the Orlando Magic might become available for purchase in the near future. Blakely is referring to a majority ownership sale potential, as he doesn’t mention the Hawks, who have already made a minority share in team ownership available. Rich DeVos is the Magic’s principal owner, who has previously stated he intended for his children to manage the team after him.
Aside from the affects an ownership change could mean for the team itself, another majority ownership changing hands in the league also raises the possibility of a relocation. Chris Hansen’s ownership group lost out in the sale of the Kings last year, nearly succeeding in purchasing the team and moving it to Seattle. The Bucks haven’t officially opened up bidding for a majority ownership purchase, and current owner Herb Kohl has repeatedly made it clear that he will do everything in his power to leave the Bucks in the hands of an ownership group that won’t move the team from Milwaukee. Hansen said on Thursday that his investor group is still on the prowl, and in even better shape to win league approval to bring the next available team to Seattle to replace the void left from the sale of the Supersonics, who were bought and moved to Oklahoma City, becoming the Thunder.
Blakely details that former NBA player Leon Powe is putting together an ownership group to be active in a future team sale. Other names rumored to be interested in ownership include Arn Tellem and David Kahn, although they have exclusively been linked to the Bucks.
KC was once rumored to be getting the Magic but no Owner here other then Chiefs/Royals/Sporting KC ones.
I have a hard time believing this one, without more than what this CSN New England article provides. Rich Devos and family are firmly entrenched in the Orlando community from a financial standpoint, from the RDV Sportsplex to the new Amway Center that cost DeVos $60M out-of-pocket just four years ago. DeVos has also locked in naming rights to the Orlando venue through 2019 (at a cost of $40M) and executed a rent commitment through 2039 (at a cost of $30M, to be paid over 30 years). That’s not to say that the team couldn’t be sold to another Orlando-area investor, but there is virtually 0% chance the team moves and beyond that, imho virtually 0% chance that DeVos looks to sell in the immediate future. The Magic haven’t been on the market since 2002, and since that time DeVos has promoted many members of his own family to paid executive positions within the franchise.