Russian oligarch and Chelsea F.C. owner Roman Abramovich formally announced he would sell the team on Wednesday, with Raine Group — the bank handling the sale — asking for “indicative offers” to be in by Friday.

The PA news agency reported Abramovich has received several serious bids in the $4 billion range — he has turned down $3 billion offers in the past. Goal reported that Abramovich, worth around $12.5 billion, is looking to sell his U.K.-based assets quickly before sanctions take hold following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I and three other people received an offer on Tuesday to buy Chelsea,” Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss said. Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers part-owner Todd Boehly is reportedly the first major partner of Wyss’ consortium.

Chelsea’s Change

While Chelsea is worth around $3.2 billion, the team is also roughly $2 billion in debt.

• Abramovich said on Wednesday that he “will not be asking for loans to be repaid.”
• His team will also set up a “charitable foundation where all net proceeds from the sale will be donated” for the benefit of victims of the war in Ukraine. He is reportedly looking for around $2.66 billion to donate.
• On Thursday, the U.K.’s Charity Commission said it hadn’t received a registration application for the charity Abramovich described.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said that the quickest sale the league has ever done is in 10 days, but “that’s not to say that record can’t be beaten.”

Negotiations often come down to who has more to lose. A report from Fitch Ratings finds that MLB owners could weather a full season without baseball.

MLB’s “ample liquidity position” at the end of last month and debt reserve funds can cover the loss of a full season, the financial analyst wrote.

• Potential losses in 2022 could be covered by ticket revenue and media deals, Fitch noted.
• The league can draw up to $2 billion from its A-rated MLB Club Trust Securitization and $1.25 billion from its MLB Facility Fund, which holds an A- rating.
• MLB holds around $2.1 billion in debt from those two facilities.

Fitch did caution that a lengthy lockout could “alienate the fan base and erode game attendance and viewership,” leading to “lower renewals of key revenue, including club seats, luxury suites, and sponsorship agreements.” 

Winning by Losing?

Last week, MLB told MLBPA representatives that it would be willing to lose a month of games, which some players believe is a desirable outcome for team owners. April games are poorly attended, and media deals are not broadly affected until around 25 games are lost. 

“They continued to make offers they know were in the players’ best interest to refuse,” Chicago Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward wrote in an Instagram post. “They view the first month of the season as debt … season delayed [equals] they meet their goals.”

On Friday, the MLBPA announced it was launching a $1 million fund to support workers affected by the lockout. MLB said it would create a similar fund.

In its Q4 earnings report, Hibbett reported net income of $17.7 million, down from $23.9 million during the same period in 2021.

The report noted the athletic apparel retailer saw a “strong sales trend leading up to the Christmas holiday.” CEO and President Mike Longo attributed the lack of major growth to supply chain disruption, inflation fears, and the rise of the Omicron variant.

• Net sales increased 1.7% compared with the same period last year, from $376.8 million to $383.3 million. 
• But comparable sales decreased by 1%. 
• While e-commerce sales increased by 1.8%, brick-and-mortar comparable sales decreased by 1.6%.

Longo noted, “We have also achieved significant growth on a two-year basis.”

During the third quarter, the Alabama-based company posted a net income of $25.2 million — also slightly down from the same period in 2021.

Annual Report

The company’s fiscal year earnings provided a sunnier outlook.

Net sales reached $1.69 billion, a 19.1% increase from last year’s total of $1.42 billion — and a 42.8% increase from 2020.

Comparable sales went up by 17.4%, and brick-and-mortar comparable sales went up by 21.4%. E-commerce sales, however, posted a slight decline of 1.6%