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Jeff Vanderbeek’s long-simmering $80 million problem appears ready to boil over.
His New Jersey Devils hockey team is months late on an $80 million debt payment to lenders and is looking for a balance-sheet miracle — that is, the securitization of its long-term TV deal with the MSG Network, a move that Vanderbeek hopes will raise exactly that much cash.
But two sources close to the situation say it appears the money-losing franchise, which has been shopping the deal with the help of Goldman Sachs since at least November, is having trouble getting the deal done.
It will be hard for Vanderbeek, the 54-year-old former Lehman Brothers executive to get the deal done by the end of the month, the sources added.
That date is key, people familiar with the situation said, because it serves as an unofficial deadline set by the NHL to resolve the potentially-crushing fiscal problem.
“[NHL Commissioner Gary] Bettman basically told him to figure out a resolution by mid-February or he’ll do what needs to be done,” a source said, noting a league takeover is not out of the question.
An NHL spokesman said it would be inaccurate to say that it has given Vanderbeek an ultimatum.
A Devils Arena Entertainment spokesman, without elaborating, said, “The facts in this story are wrong.”
Lenders, if they do not see progress toward solving the $80 million problem, may put the team in default next month.
“There is radio silence out of Goldman [on the securitization],” a source said. This is not a good sign, the person said.
A Goldman spokesman declined comment.
Vanderbeek is running out of options. He can’t tap the franchise for the money because, when including Prudential Center revenue, the team could be staring at up to a $20 million loss this season.
The Devils’ silent partner, billionaire philanthropist Ray Chambers, who owns a 47 percent stake in the team, has decided he will no longer cover the red ink spilled, sources said.
Chambers did not return calls.