The sports business certainly hasn't been all fun and games lately, if it ever was.
First came news in mid-October that the National Basketball Association
would cut 9% of its U.S. staff. The National Football League
followed suit last week, axing more than 10%.
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Mixed martial arts circuit EliteXC went several steps further and shut down completely in October. Despite reports that parent ProElite Inc. would file for bankruptcy protection, no petition had been filed as of Dec. 15. Instead, Securities and Exchange Commission filings show secured creditor Showtime Networks Inc., after deciding not to acquire the assets of ProElite, moved to sell them under the California Universal Commercial Code. The sale, originally set for Nov. 17 in the offices of Showtime law firm Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, was delayed at least two weeks on Nov. 13. ProElite continues to look for investors to cure its default with Showtime, therefore halting a sale. The company has also mentioned a bankruptcy filing or lawsuit to block the sale as other options.
One league that did enter bankruptcy, however, is the National Professional Paintball League. Owner Pacific Paintball LLC and five affiliates submitted Chapter 7 petitions on Sunday to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in Riverside. NPPL bills itself as the leading paintball tournament series, with 150 teams vying to win each of five annual events. Pacific Paintball also produced a TV series profiling paintball players, operated the regional XPSL league and owned the Camp Pendleton Paintball Park in San Diego.
Finally, the Arena Football League, The Deal's upstairs neighbor in our Manhattan home, announced Monday it would suspend the 2009 season. The 16-team indoor league "needs to be restructured if it is to continue to provide its unique brand of this affordable, fan-friendly sport," acting commissioner Ed Policy said in a statement. "These are trying economic times," said Philadelphia Soul co-owner and rock singer Jon Bon Jovi.
Trying times, indeed. Players apparently will have to look elsewhere for salaries next year, and one general manager in the AFL is already referencing the U.S. Football League, which collapsed following the suspension of play in 1986. - David Elman
David Elman is the editor of The Deal's Bankruptcy Insider newsletter.
