Tom Hicks seeks to sell Dallas Stars

Tom Hicks is exploring a possible sale of the Dallas Stars.

The Hicks Sports Group said today that the NHL team has retained Galatioto Sports Partners to look for new investors and explore the idea of selling a majority stake in the Stars, although the team president Jeff Cogen said a sale is not a certainty.

Last year, Hicks defaulted on a loan backed by the Stars and baseball’s Texas Rangers.

Hicks recently reached an agreement to sell the Rangers to a group led by Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg. The sale is still awaiting approval from Major League Baseball.

I can’t help but feel this was inevitable and certainly more a question of when rather than if Hicks would sell.

Hicks has come under intense scrutiny in the UK for his co-handling of Liverpool Football Club with a massive worldwide fan base calling for a huge change in commitment to their team from both Hicks and co-owner George Gillett (former owner of the Montreal Canadiens).

I know Chairmen/women or Directors aren’t leaders, they’re not standard bearers for the teams they own and usually have no clue about what sport their team actually plys their trade in, case in point with the Hicks-Gillett co-ownership of Liverpool. They are though very astute business people with more clue as to what happens in this sort of scenario than I do.

Personally, I would’ve expected Hicks to have sold his stake in Liverpool with the English Premier League soccer club not playing to their potential and sitting in the lowly position (by their exceptionally high standards) of 7th in a league of 20 teams.

I’d be sorry to see Hicks go to be honest because he’s always played fair when it comes to the Stars and is generally respected by staff and fans alike but sport – any sport – is becoming the very essence of business itself and the landscape (tragically) is changing so much on a season by season basis.

Whatever you decide Tom, fair play to you and thanks for doing it as well as you did. Don;t know if Liverpool fans would quite agree with me though.