George Gillett (center) AP Photo Jon Super

This is bad news for Sports fans the world over. George Gillett hold significant holding in many of the premier sporting leagues the world over. He owns the Montreal Canadians of the NHL, co owns a soccer team in the English Premier League, co owns a mid level NASCAR organization, and had been looking to get a MLS franchise in Montreal.

However the downturn in the economy is forcing Gillett to seriously restructure his company and holdings. He has hired BMO Capital Markets to investigate the best way to improve his financial standing.

All options are being considered including the outright sale of some of his assets, finical restructuring of debt, or the option of bringing in additional investors to help him get past this rough patch in the world economy.

According to Forbes.com the Montreal Canadians are worth 334 million dollars, Gillett’s stake in the NASCAR team is worth somewhere between 125 million and 190 million, and the Liverpool FC soccer team is worth around 1.015 billion.

USA today has a report that Gillett is frustrated as the ever weakening US dollar is making it very hard to invest in the Liverpool team. This might also suggest it may be impossible for him to unload his 50% stake in the team. Since his partner, Tom Hicks who owns the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars, is also American and most of his business is done in American dollars a potential buyout doesn’t seem feasible.

Hicks blocked a potential sale of Gillett’s stake to Dubai International Capitol, and has a plan to buy up a percentage of Gillett’s stake in order to gain a majority interest and reduce the UAE consortium to silent investor status.

The reality here is Gillett will have trouble finding buyers for all of his sports holdings. The economy has made large investing in teams a scare commodity, and only strong brands are able to get credit for such endeavors. The Canadians and Liverpool FC are without strong brands, but honestly his NASCAR team is not among that sports elite.