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Tuesday, March 30, 1999
Report: Nuggets, Avalanche about to be sold
DENVER (AP) -- A subsidiary of Ascent Entertainment Group reportedly has reached a tentative agreement to sell the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche and the Pepsi Center to a group headed by a former college basketball player, Bill Laurie, The Denver Post reported today.Ascent Sports' teams and the $170 million arena, which is under construction, are worth at least $400 million, the newspaper reported, quoting unidentified NBA sources.
Charlie Lyons, Ascent's chief executive officer, declined comment through a spokesman. Laurie, whose wife is an heir to the Wal-Mart Corp. fortune, also declined comment Monday.
Speculation about the possible sale of the two teams has been rumored for about a year.
Last week, KMGH-TV said Ascent executives were discussing a possible sale with Wal-Mart officials. Lyons called that report inaccurate and Wal-Mart executives denied corporate involvement in any talks.
Laurie met Nancy Walton while the two attended high school in Versailles, Mo. He was a guard at Memphis State and then coached high school basketball.
Walton's late father, James "Bud" Walton, and his brother, Sam, co-founded the Wal-Mart chain.
Ascent's foray into professional sports began in the early 1990s when, as COMSAT Video Enterprises, it spent $17 million for a majority interest in the NBA's Nuggets.
In 1995, it paid $65 million for the Avalanche of the NHL.