According to an ESPN.com report, the NBA has the right to buy back the Milwaukee Bucks from prospective owners Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry for $575-million, if a deal to build a new arena is not in place by November 2017.
The $575-million is $25-million more than Edens and Lasry paid for the team from former senator Herb Kohl.
Kohl told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently that the Bucks need a new arena or they will be gone.
Both Kohl and the ownership group of Edens and Lasry, committed $100-million each towards a new arena in Milwaukee. It’s believed a new facility will cost at least $400-million to build.
It’s thought that it may take some form of a sales tax, like the one that helped build Miller Park, to help finance a portion of the remaining total necessary to build a new facility. But there’s also plenty of opposition by taxpayers for such a possibility.
The new ownership group is also hoping to get others in the city to invest in a facility. Brewers principal owner, Mark Attanasio, said he would be willing to help out but hasn’t said anything further about his possible support.
