After a long, successful career with the National Basketball Association, sports dealmaker Dave Checketts has turned his attention to professional soccer, with limited success.
After leaving the NBA in 2001 to form investment firm Sports Capital Partners Worldwide, Checketts' first foray into soccer was the purchase of Major League Soccer franchise Real Salt Lake in 2004. Looking to make bigger inroads in the game, SCP Worldwide agreed in March to purchase an 80% stake in GolTV — the first cable network dedicated to soccer around the world 24/7 — for $200 million. However, the deal collapsed because of Checketts' relationship with Real Salt Lake, the St. Louis Business Journal reported Friday.
SCP's funding for the GolTV deal was canceled because the deal could violate Major League Soccer's noncompete rules, which forbid owners from holding more than one professional franchise in two different sports, according to the St. Louis Business Journal. SCP not only owns Real Salt Lake, but also the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues. Checketts reportedly had lined up Lehman Brothers Inc. as one of the lenders for the deal. However, sport industry analysts speculate that MLS' broadcasters — ABC/ESPN, Fox Sports, HDNet and Univision — had some concern in the deal because GolTV would compete with viewers of Major League Soccer.
Checketts became the youngest executive with the NBA with the Utah Jazz at the age of 28 followed by a stint as general manager of the New York Knicks leading it to its first final appearance in 21 years in 1994. He also was an early investor in College Sports Television, which was acquired by Viacom Inc. for $325 million in 2006. —Gerald Magpily
See story from the St. Louis Business Journal via BizJournals.com
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