Dallas Stars Sale: Lenders Approve Plan, Sale Expected To Enter Court Soon

Finally, we have some positive movement on the sale of the Dallas Stars.

After months of negotiating with Tom Gaglardi and his bid to purchase the team the lenders involved with the sale have approved a pre-packaged bankruptcy plan that would take the sale through the court system and into a court-approved auction. Per various reports, the court filing could come as early as this week or could happen next week. In any case, the sale process is about to hit the court system -- something we've known was coming for a while now. 

As part of this bankruptcy plan, Tom Gaglardi's bid is being used a "stalking horse" bid in order to start the process within the court system. There is a thought that his bid is good enough that other potential buyers wont' be interested in trying to outbid Gaglardi once the sale reaches auction.

However, there are reports that Chuck Greenberg is still very interested in making a push to purchase the team and there are others -- like Doug Miller and Billy Quinn - who could still be interested as well. Part of this process of the sale going to court is that Gaglardi's bid becomes public, allowing interested buyers to determine whether they would be interested in taking on his bid in auction.

Once the court filings are completed, it is thought that a new owner could be in place within 60 days. If there are competing bids, however, that time frame may lengthen. The lenders are looking to pay as little of this year's payroll as possible and are fighting to get this sale completed as soon as possible, perhaps leading to this lengthy negotiating term with Gaglardi as they put together the strongest plan and bid possible.

Once the sale hits court, expect the news cycle of the sale to remain about the same. This isn't like the Texas Rangers sale last year with deadlines being made and drama erupting in the court room. This will likely be just a methodic and slow a process as it has been - although hopefully we'll get more insight into the nature of Gaglardi's bid once the sale is in the court system.