Vinik to expand Lightning ownership, team worth 'close to $2 billion'

Jeff Vinik is in talks to grow the Tampa Bay Lightning’s ownership group but has no immediate intentions to step away from-day-to-day operations.

By Louis Llovio
| 5:10 p.m. August 13, 2024
| 2 Free Articles Remaining!

The Tampa Bay Lightning's 2021-22 season ended with a loss on home ice to the Colorado Avalanche, who won their first Stanley Cup since 2001.

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Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik is working on a deal to sell off a piece of the team, in a move he describes as growing the existing ownership group.

In a statement Tuesday afternoon, Vinik confirmed the organization is in discussions to expand the group but says “there will be no change in the day-to-day operations of the Lightning and Vinik Sports Group.

“I am very excited about what is to come for the organization and we look forward to sharing more when the time is right.”

The statement comes after a report appeared on Sportsnet’s website Tuesday saying Vinik had started “a multi-stage sale process that will value the team at close to $2 billion.”

The report says Vinik will continue to run the team for the next several years and keep a significant ownership stake.

There are no immediate plans for Vinik to step away now or in the future.

The buyer, Sportsnet says, “is believed to be Doug Ostrover, co-founder and CEO of Blue Owl Capital, a very successful investment firm.”

Elliotte Friedman, a well-known journalist covering the NHL for the network, wrote the story, which he bases on several sources and describes what’s happening as a multi-stage sales process.

Jeff Vinik and Cathie Wood of ARK Investment Management spoke at an Urban Land Institute event in Tampa March 2022.

At $2 billion, he writes, the deal would be the largest in the NHL’s history, surpassing the $950 million sale of the Ottawa Senators last year.

Vinik, the mastermind behind the Water Street Tampa development and a hedge fund billionaire, bought the team in 2010 for $170 million. Since then, the Lightning has won two Stanley Cups and has been a perennial powerhouse in the National Hockey League.

But last year Vinik sold his share of Strategic Property Partners, the real estate company behind the $2 billion Water Street development project, saying he has “been actively focused on simplifying my life.”

“Having recently become a grandfather for the first time, I am very focused on prioritizing family, going to Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games and being a part of our community.”

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Louis Llovio

Louis Llovio is the deputy managing editor at the Business Observer. Before going to work at the Observer, the longtime business writer worked at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Maryland Daily Record and for the Baltimore Sun Media Group. He lives in Tampa.