Tom Hicks confirms reports he is willing to sell up to 49% of Dallas Stars

This is a follow up to yesterday's FanPost by Gravypan, linking to a TSN.ca story about Tom Hicks looking to sell portions of the Dallas Stars' interests.

Evan Grant over at the very excellent Inside Corner has confirmation from Tom Hicks on reports that is willing to find investors to buy a large portion of the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers.

“I look at it as a way to improve things in a bad economy,” Hicks said. “It’s something we’ve been looking at quietly for the last couple of months. I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

Any deal for part of the Rangers or Stars would not include any portion of Hicks’ 50-percent control of Liverpool Football Club, the English Premier League soccer team in which he shares ownership with Montreal Canadiens owner George Gillett. Locked in a standoff with his partner, Hicks can’t afford to sell any portion of the team or risk turning himself into a minority owner.

It's important to note that Tom Hicks assured Grant that any deal would not have any impact on either club's payroll. There was a report a few days ago that Hicks was looking at cutting the Rangers' payroll by nearly $20 million; Hicks has since stated that this is not true.

While any deal should not directly affect the daily operations of the Stars or Rangers, it is an interesting development for an owner whom most fans are unhappy with his attitude towards his stateside teams, especially the Rangers. Granted, Hicks' hands off style has allowed the Stars' G.M.s to build the team in a consistently successful team (this year nonwithstanding). However, there are some (including me) that wish Hicks would take more of a personal interest in his teams and not just treat them as a business investment.

It will be interesting to see how much of an interest he get from potential investors. I'm in for a few dollars.