Stars owner Hicks to buy Rangers for $250 million

(AP) 

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Tom Hicks, vowing he will spend enough to win a pennant, agreed Wednesday to buy the Texas Rangers from the group headed by Texas Gov. George W. Bush for $250 million.

"I love sports," said Hicks, a billionaire who owns the NHL's Dallas Stars. "We want to add an American League pennant ... and to bring the World Series to Arlington. ... I've demonstrated with the Stars we will have the most competitive team we can have."

If the deal is approved by other baseball owners, a process expected to take 6-to-12 months, the price would be the second-highest for a baseball team. Fox Sports, a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is awaiting approval on its purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers from Peter O'Malley, a deal worth about $350 million.

"There's no reason the Rangers can't get to the top," Hicks said. ``This is one of the best franchises in the country. It's in a world class facility. You don't even have to win a championship every year to draw the fans. You just have to show you're really trying."

Hicks has agreed to buy the lease for The Ballpark in Arlington and ownership of an office building and restaurant in the stadium, 43 acres of nearby land and an option to buy 227 acres of adjacent property.

"In the next 20 years I see hotels, restaurants and office buildings," Hicks said, who had negotiated the deal for six months.

Hicks said the team's management, including president Tom Schieffer, general manager Doug Melvin and field manager Johnny Oates, would remain in place. The pair have contracts through the 1999 season.

"My style is to keep folks in place who are good managers and want to win," Hicks said. "I have great confidence in Tom.''

Bush called the sale announcement "a bittersweet one."

"While I will no longer be an owner, I will continue to be a full-time Texas Rangers fan," he said. "I have loved every minute of my involvement with the Rangers."

In 1989, the Rangers, Arlington Stadium and some surrounding property were bought for $83 million by a group of 28 investors headed by Bush and Rusty Rose. Their deal kept then-owner Eddie Chiles from selling the team to another group that would've moved the Rangers to Tampa, Fla.

Led by Bush, the Rangers persuaded Arlington taxpayers to finance a $189 million stadium that opened in 1994. After Bush was elected governor in 1994, he stepped down as a general partner, handing over day-to-day operations to Schieffer.

Hicks said he likely would ask some of his business partners in the Stars to become partners in the Rangers. He expects to end up with about 80 percent ownership, similar to his share of the hockey team.

The new ballpark and the team's first playoff appearance in 1996 led to a record attendance of 2.9 million last year despite a losing record.

Hicks, 51, built his billion-dollar empire during the last two decades through a series of leveraged buyouts and other high-finance deals. In recent years, he's been buying adio and television stations, including spending $1.7 billion last August on LIN Television, which owns the rights to Rangers broadcasts through the 2000 season.

Hicks moved from the business pages to the sports section in December 1995 when he bought the Stars for $82 million.

As a sports franchise owner, Hicks has been hands off, leaving the Stars' hockey people in place and allowing them to run the team. He's consulted only on contractual matters, but he doesn't say no very often, allowing the payroll to increase from $18 million to $31.7 million.

As a regent at his alma mater, the University of Texas, Hicks was instrumental in removing football coach John Mackovic and hiring Mack Brown last month. Hicks also has been personally involved in trying to get Dallas taxpayers to help build a downtown arena for the Stars and NBA's Mavericks.

A vote will be held Jan. 17. Opponents say Hicks' spending so much on the baseball team while asking taxpayers for $125 million to build an arena could be the fatal blow to the measure.

Some also have speculated that the purchase means the Stars, and possibly the Mavericks, may be headed for Arlington. But Hicks said he's still committed to the Dallas arena proposal and encouraged voters to support it.

"If you're a sports fan or you care about your city, please go vote and say, 'Yes, let's do it," ' he said.

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