Despite a NBA finals run the Magic lost money in 2009 AP Photo/ David J Phillip
The Orlando Magic just lost their NBA Finals match up with the Los Angeles Lakers and are no doubt spending a few days licking their wounds, there is more bad news for the Magic front office.
For the sixth straight year the Orlando Magic have an operating loss. For the 2008-09 season the magic lost somewhere between 15-20 million dollars. Of course the little bit of good news is their NBA finals run earned the team six million in additional revenue. That lowers their operating loss to somewhere between 10.5 and 14 million dollars.
On top of that the team recently secured a 100 million dollar loan against the 480 million dollar construction cost of their new stadium that is due to open in October of 2010.
This raises some interesting questions about the borrowing practices of whomever of whoever gave the Magic this loan. Really though what we have here is another billionaire sports owner whose hobby happens to be running a professional sports team.
The Magic are owned by Richard Devos Sr., a Michigan native whose son unsuccessfully ran for Michigan governor in 2006, who is the founder of Amway Corporation. Forbes has him listed as the 73rd richest person in America.
This points out the lack of need for the Magic to operate under a budget. Even with that the Magic have never entered into the fray pf paying the NBA luxury tax because of their payroll only prove more that Devos is more interested in his hobby than running a successful sports business operation.
Comments