The Obama Method

Forgive me if I insert a political reference, but the title there is my quick-and-dirty name for getting a lot of money in small amounts out of a lot of people. In the context of this page, a similar endeavor was attempted to keep the old IHL Hornets in town, but I'm invoking it right now because Dayton Bombers owner Costa Papista is trying a similar approach in readying his franchise for a 2010 return:

Papista plans to[...] offer minority investors the opportunity to buy into the team at the $5,000 level through a private placement memorandum.

The plan calls for the team to secure 230 of these investors within 60 days, along with a new majority owner. The makeup of ownership would thus be 50.5% new guy, 10% Costa Papista, 39.5% everyone else--for those counting, that means that to feasibly run an ECHL franchise costs around $3 million. For comparison's sake, let's set the WABAC machine for 4 January 1957 (from the Raleigh Journal, courtesy of the always awesome NewspaperArchive.com):

Huntington Group Nears Hornets Purchase Price

HUNTINGTON (AP) - A local group headed by promoter Dick Deutsch today was within $10,820 of the reported $35,000 needed to buy the Huntington Hornets International Hockey League club from its present Fort Wayne, Ind. owners.

Deutsch announced after a public meeting last night that Huntington business and private individuals had pledged to purchase 2,418 shares at $10 a share in a proposed "Huntington Hornet Corp."

Deutsch holds an option to buy the club. He says he wants the people of Huntington to feel that it is their team. The option expires Monday.

Evansville, Ind., also has made overtures to purchase the club and move the franchise there. The club was moved here from Grand Rapids, Mich., only last year.

Per the US Government, that would amount to an IHL franchise costing shade over a quarter-million dollars in 2009 money. One of those shares would be $75; Papista is taking season-ticket deposits at $50. My, how things change...