Reports: NHL helped Lightning make payroll

Tampa Bay Lightning officials declined to comment Thursday on reports ownership group OK Hockey has defaulted on loan payments and the National Hockey League advanced the team money to make payroll.

According to multiple reports citing unnamed sources, OK Hockey has defaulted on its loan payments to Palace Sports & Entertainment. And, according to a report on Thursday by the Sports Business Journal, the NHL advanced the team revenue-sharing money for the 2009-10 season to cover January payroll expenses.

The Sports Business Journal, citing unnamed sources, said the team also received a $2 million advance from Sun Sports to make the final payroll of the 2008-09 season.

For months, sparring Tampa Bay co-owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules have been working to bring in additional investors in order to part ways. The safety net in the process has been the backing of the former owner, Palace Sports, which helped finance the sale to OK Hockey in July 2008 by loaning the new owners nearly $100 million to complete the $200 million transaction.

The Detroit News reported on Wednesday that Karen Davidson, widow of Palace Sports founder Bill Davidson, is looking into selling the Detroit Pistons and possibly Palace Sports. That means Palace Sports likely will want to clear the Lightning off its books completely, and efforts to find new investors or a new owner could be accelerated.

"All I can say is we expect a positive resolution in the relatively near future," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.

Palace Sports CEO Tom Wilson did not respond to a request for comment.

The sale to OK Hockey in June 2008 was approved with the understanding ownership would revert back to Palace Sports should OK Hockey default on its payments or be unable to meet its financial obligations to the team.

But neither Palace Sports nor the NHL wants that to happen.

Potential new investors for the Lightning, however, remain scarce. The most serious bidder to emerge was Miami Beach investor Jeff Greene, who formally applied for ownership and began a process of due diligence in late September to examine the team's finances after being recruited by representatives of Koules. But on Oct. 28, Greene withdrew his interest after determining the financial numbers were not in line.

The only other candidate to surface is St. Louis real estate mogul Anthony Sansone, Jr., who had been working with Barrie. It is unclear how serious an investor Sansone is at this point. He reportedly has not applied for ownership with the league and hasn't spoken publically on the matter in months, while Barrie has recently stopped responding to inquiries.

Barrie and Koules were both in New York, site of the NHL league offices, on Tuesday when the team played the Rangers, though it is unclear why.

The situation has stayed out of the headlines in recent months, with the only public statement on the situation coming from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman during a visit to Phoenix in November: "I know that Oren and Len are continuing to focus on what they need to be doing going forward. I'm not particularly concerned about any windows right now.''

The league already has dealt with one muddled ownership situation this season involving the Phoenix Coyotes franchise, which was placed in bankruptcy court by owner Jerry Moyes in May. It was revealed in public records at that time the league had been handling most of the day-to-day operations of the team, including providing the necessary finances to cover operating costs. The league eventually gained legal ownership of the franchise in early October in a court-run bidding process and currently is attempting to sell the franchise.

With the Phoenix situation still fresh in so many minds, the last thing the league wants is to run into a similar situation with the Lightning, which under Davidson's reign was held up by the league as a shining example of a small-market team finding success when Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup in 2004.

The uncertainty with ownership does not appear to have affected the team on the ice. The Lightning are 20-20-10 and in playoff contention in the Eastern Conference.