Will Childress Drop the Puck and Skate to the Net?
The stars were out during NASCAR’s visit to the land of fruits, nuts and berries this past weekend. Make of that what you will, that’s what they do out there for better of worse. Mostly worse.
Quietly slipping under the radar was a “Head Star.”
Dallas Stars owner Tom Hicks and members of his family were invited to attend the Sharp Aquos 500 by team owner Richard Childress. Not the biggest news of the week of course but there are some connections that can be made.
The well-heeled Tom Hicks has made it a point to build his own little sports oligarchy of late. In addition to the NHL franchise he recently purchased, and has become a co-chairman, of the Liverpool Football Club.
Even I, who totally ignore the thing they call football, know the Liverpool Club has a long and storied history that may only be rivaled by Man UTD.
So what does this have to do with NASCAR and an NHL team owner?
Tom Hicks’ financial partner in the purchase of Liverpool is none other than George Gillett, the owner of the NHL
Just a note. Tom Hicks also owns the Texas Rangers. I guess more specifically, his holding company owns them, or something like that.
the last thing any sports team should want is involvement with Tom Hicks. Ever since the A-Rod deal backfired on him and did not earn him a World Series, he’s tried to do everything on the cheap with his NHL and MLB franchises. Despite the Dallas area being a top 5 media market (meaning more ad revenue and more fans) and despite have lucrative TV deals for both franchises, both teams still rank in the bottom halfs of their leagues in payroll. In comparison, Mark Cuban and Jerry Jones both spend more and more in the name of trying to win. Hicks looks at his teams as an investment, spending as little as possible so that the return is greater when he sells out. As a sports fan in the Dallas area, I’m constantly upset with Hicks, so sorry if I’ve gone off on a tangent. But NASCAR fans should know, if Hicks is in control of the spending for RCR or anyteam, count on the performance of that team dropping dramatically.