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Ozzie and Daniel Silna

April 27, 2024

Ozzie (December 27, 1932 – April 26, 2016[1]) and Daniel (born August 26, 1944[citation needed]) Silna are American businessmen of Latvian descent[2][3] best known for their success in the textile industry, as well as being co-owners of the American Basketball Association's Spirits of St. Louis and the lucrative deal cut to fold that team during the ABA-NBA merger.

Brothers Ozzie and Daniel Silna made a fortune as pioneers in the manufacture of polyester. In 1974, they wanted to own an NBA team. After an attempt to buy the Detroit Pistons fell short, the Silnas purchased the ABA's Carolina Cougars franchise with the expectation of moving it into the NBA with the impending merger of the two leagues.[4][5]

On April 26, 2016, Ozzie died of cancer at the age of 83.[1]

Personal life edit

The Silna brothers are sons of Latvian Jewish immigrants who came to the U.S. via Palestine, in the 1930s. The Silnas' father, of Jewish descent, started a textile business in New Jersey. After graduating from Columbia, then Fordham Law School, Dan joined his father’s business. In 1969, Dan and Ozzie started their own knitting company, which they sold two years later.[3]

The Spirits of St. Louis edit

The Silna brothers moved the Cougars to St. Louis, Missouri, because it was then the largest city in the United States without a professional basketball team and they thought this would make their team more likely to join the NBA. In 1974, the Cougars, roster and all, were overhauled and became the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis from 1974 through 1976.[4] The 1974–75 Spirits had upset the reigning ABA champion New York Nets in the 1975 Eastern Division Finals before losing to the eventual champion Kentucky Colonels, but in the 1975–76 season the Spirits' play was uneven and their attendance waned.[5][6]

The Spirits' 1975–76 season was not a success either on the court or in attendance.[5][7] In May 1976, due to attendance problems in St. Louis, the Spirits announced that they were going to move to Salt Lake City, Utah, to play as the Utah Rockies when a lease agreement for the Salt Palace was arranged.[5] This followed an attempted merger of the Spirits and the Utah Stars franchise during the 1975–76 season, a merger that, had it occurred, contemplated the team leaving St. Louis for Utah.[5][8] But the Stars folded before the merger could occur and instead, the Spirits bought the rights to some of the Stars' best players, including future Hall of Famer Moses Malone.[5][8] In another effort to be included in the ABA-NBA merger, the Silna brothers proposed selling the Spirits to a Utah group, buying the Kentucky Colonels franchise, and moving the Colonels to Buffalo to replace the Buffalo Braves, who were then planning to move to Hollywood, Florida.[9]

The Spirits were not included in the ABA-NBA merger, with the St. Louis and Kentucky players being put into a special dispersal draft. Marvin Barnes went to the Detroit Pistons for $500,000, Moses Malone went to the Portland Trail Blazers for $300,000, Ron Boone went to the Kansas City Kings for $250,000, Randy Denton went to the New York Knicks for $50,000 and Mike Barr also went to the Kansas City Kings, for $15,000.[9][10] The folding of the Spirits dissolved a very talented basketball team, one that likely would have competed successfully in the NBA. Twelve players from the final two Spirits of St. Louis rosters (1974–76) played in the NBA during the 1976–77 season and beyond: Maurice Lucas, Ron Boone, Marvin Barnes, Caldwell Jones, Lonnie Shelton, Steve Green, Gus Gerard, Moses Malone, Don Adams, Don Chaney, M. L. Carr and Freddie Lewis.[11]

Deal edit

While the Silna brothers were left out of the NBA, they nonetheless managed to turn it into one of the greatest deals in the history of professional sports.[12][13][14] Of the seven teams that finished the final ABA season, the NBA would only accept 4 in the merger. The Virginia Squires folded shortly after the season.[15] The Colonels negotiated a $3.3 million (equivalent to $17.7 million in 2023) buyout from the remaining ABA teams.[16][15] However, the Spirits held out for more[17] and in June 1976, the owners of the four merging ABA teams, the Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, New York Nets and the San Antonio Spurs, agreed to pay the St. Louis owners $2.2 million (equivalent to $11.8 million in 2023) in cash up front and an additional 1/7 share of each of the four remaining teams' television broadcast revenue "for as long as the NBA or its successors continues in its existence" in return for the Spirits folding.[15][5][13][18] This was based on the principle that all seven remaining ABA franchise should get an equal share in the TV revenue of the merged teams.[15][16] Thus the Silnas would receive checks from the NBA on a yearly basis, representing a 4/7 share of the television money that would normally go to each NBA franchise, or roughly two percent of the entire league's TV money — as compared to the roughly three and a third percent received by each active franchise.[5][19] Additionally, the Silnas inserted a clause in the contract stipulating that their share could not drop below the amount generated from a 28-team league.[15] With the NBA expanding to 30 teams, each of the former ABA teams was required to pay the Silnas a 1/196 share (1/7 of 1/28) of total league TV revenue, instead of 1/210 (1/7 of 1/30), giving the Silnas a 1/49 share. The contract defined broadcast revenue very broadly, which their attorney during the merger negotiations, Donald Schupak, pointed out "could not be evaded or made obsolete".[20] The Silnas brothers wanted to join the NBA and had originally hoped to parlay the deal into an NBA franchise of their own;[17][16] instead, the NBA moved forward with paying the brothers (45% each)[12] and their partner/lawyer, Schupak (10%),[12] the annual amounts.

The first year the deal yielded revenue for the Silnas, in 1980–81, of a modest $521,749.[21] However, as the NBA's popularity exploded in 1980s and 1990s, the league's television rights were sold to CBS and then NBC, and additional deals were struck with the TNT and TBS cable networks; league television revenue soared into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Thanks to the deal, the Silnas made millions through the 1980s and at least $4.4 million per year through the 1990s.[19] From 1999 through 2002 the deal netted the Spirits' owners at least $12.53 million per year; from 2003-2006 their take was at least $15.6 million per year.[12] By 2010–11 they were receiving $17.45 million annually.[21] In 2014, the deal was costing each former ABA team $5 million a year.[22] The Silna brothers had received roughly $300 million in revenue as of 2014,[23] despite the fact that the Spirits never played an NBA game nor dealt with the costs of fielding a team.[24] They credit their terrific deal to planning they had done ahead of the merger for the Virginia Squires owners; the Silnas had expected the Spirits and Colonels to enter the NBA but for the ailing Squires to be left out, and the Silnas thought up the television revenue deal as a way to treat the Squires' owners fairly if the Squires did not join the NBA with the other ABA teams.[12] However, the deal cut by the Silna brothers and the incredible amount of revenue it has produced over the years has itself become legend.[12]

There have been numerous attempts by the NBA and the former ABA clubs to buy out the deal.[15][23] It was reported that a $6 million settlement was under consideration in the 1980s.[21] With New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson purchasing the New Orleans Hornets from the NBA in 2012 and planning to rename the team, there had been talk that the NBA might negotiate a deal to end the TV deals for the Silna brothers in exchange for rights to the Spirits name.[25] This ended up not happening, as the Hornets were renamed the Pelicans.

In January 2014, a conditional settlement agreement between the NBA, the former ABA clubs and the Silnas was announced.[26][16][27] As part of the deal, the Silnas were reported to be receiving a $500 million (equivalent to $644 million in 2023) upfront payment from the former ABA teams.[23][15] In return, the former ABA teams would get majority stake in the Spirits of St. Louis Basketball Club, L.P., which will retain control of a portion of the TV revenue streams of the former ABA teams, with the option to purchase the remaining stake held by the Silnas in the future.[26][28][23][21] Also, the Silnas will drop their litigation against the league seeking a share of additional media revenue streams, with the NBA agreeing to grant some of the disputed funds to the Spirits.[27][26][23] The settlement was completed in April 2014.[29][30]

Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme edit

The Silnas lost the money that they had invested with Bernie Madoff, with the trustee for the victims of the scheme alleging that Silna and his associates had received $24 million in unearned income from Madoff.[31][32]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Sandomir, Richard (April 28, 2016). "Ozzie Silna, Savvy A.B.A Owner Who Got Rich Off the N.B.A., Dies at 83" – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ^ "When Negotiation Mistakes Compound over Time". PON - Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  3. ^ a b Burke, Monte. "Revisiting 'The Greatest Sports Deal Of All Time'". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-23.
  4. ^ a b Pluto, Terry (1990), Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association, Simon & Schuster, pp. 349–351, ISBN 978-1-4165-4061-8
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Spirits of St. Louis. - RememberTheABA.com.
  6. ^ Pluto. - pp.387-388.
  7. ^ Pluto. - pp.372-390,427,429.
  8. ^ a b Pluto. - pp.386-387.
  9. ^ a b Spirits of St. Louis Detailed Year to Year Notes. - RememberTheABA.com.
    Archived January 1, 1970, at remembertheaba.com (Error: unknown archive URL)
  10. ^ Pluto. - p.435.
  11. ^ Pluto. - pp.388-389.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Pells, Eddie (May 27, 2006), "Enterprising Brothers Converted NBA Buyout Of ABA Team Into Multimillion-Dollar Windfall", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Associated Press
  13. ^ a b Rovell, Darren (June 28, 2007). "NBA Edition: Silna Family "Fortune" And The Draft". www.cnbc.com.
  14. ^ Pluto. - pp.431-433.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g Aldridge, David (2014-01-13). "Winds shift in Chicago again with Bulls' decision to deal Deng". National Basketball Association. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  16. ^ a b c d Briggs, Bill (2014-02-17). "Deal of a Lifetime: Brothers Dunk Huge NBA Dollars Without Team". NBC News. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  17. ^ a b Adkisson, Knowles (2014-04-16). "Silna Settles Longtime NBA Dispute for $500M". The Malibu Times. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  18. ^ Pluto. - pp.428-433.
  19. ^ a b Pluto. - p.433.
  20. ^ Wertheim, Jon (2014-04-09). "Best sports deal ever? How the Silnas outsmarted the NBA". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  21. ^ a b c d Schoettle, Anthony (2014-01-14). "Deal may extricate Pacers from costly TV-rights deal from ABA days". Indianapolis Business Journal. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  22. ^ Buckner, Candace (2014-01-28). "ABA TV settlement approaching $1 billion". The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  23. ^ a b c d e Sandomir, Richard (2014-01-07). "Payout May Come for an A.B.A. Team That Is Long Gone". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  24. ^ Sandomir, Richard (September 6, 2012). "No Team, No Ticket Sales, but Plenty of Cash: Former A.B.A. Owners Ozzie and Daniel Silna Earn Millions From N.B.A." The New York Times.
  25. ^ http://www.hornets247.com/blog/2012/05/03/angels-and-spirit-are-the-two-leading-names-for-a-hornets-rebrand/
  26. ^ a b c Rovell, Darren. "Entities reach conditional settlement". ESPN. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  27. ^ a b Mandell, Nina (2014-01-17). "Ending the greatest sports deal of all time will reportedly cost the NBA at least $500 million". USA Today. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  28. ^ . 2014-01-07. Archived from the original on 2014-05-17. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  29. ^ "Silna Settles Longtime NBA Dispute for $500M". The Malibu Times. Apr 16, 2014.
  30. ^ "THE BEST DEAL EVER". Sports Illustrated. 2014-04-14. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  31. ^ Sandomir, Richard. "No Team, No Ticket Sales, but Plenty of Cash; Former A.B.A. Owners Ozzie and Daniel Silna Earn Millions From N.B.A.", The New York Times, September 6, 2012. Accessed September 7, 2012.
  32. ^ Burke, Monte (April 18, 2011). "From Hoops To Oops?". Forbes. Retrieved May 1, 2014.
  • Rovell, Darren (January 22, 2007), "Spirit of ABA deal lives on for Silna brothers", ESPN.com
  • Grossman, Dan (2003), A Deal I Wish I'd Done, DailySpeculations.com

April 27, 2024
ozzie, daniel, silna, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, availab. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation September 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Ozzie December 27 1932 April 26 2016 1 and Daniel born August 26 1944 citation needed Silna are American businessmen of Latvian descent 2 3 best known for their success in the textile industry as well as being co owners of the American Basketball Association s Spirits of St Louis and the lucrative deal cut to fold that team during the ABA NBA merger Brothers Ozzie and Daniel Silna made a fortune as pioneers in the manufacture of polyester In 1974 they wanted to own an NBA team After an attempt to buy the Detroit Pistons fell short the Silnas purchased the ABA s Carolina Cougars franchise with the expectation of moving it into the NBA with the impending merger of the two leagues 4 5 On April 26 2016 Ozzie died of cancer at the age of 83 1 Contents 1 Personal life 2 The Spirits of St Louis 3 Deal 4 Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme 5 ReferencesPersonal life editThe Silna brothers are sons of Latvian Jewish immigrants who came to the U S via Palestine in the 1930s The Silnas father of Jewish descent started a textile business in New Jersey After graduating from Columbia then Fordham Law School Dan joined his father s business In 1969 Dan and Ozzie started their own knitting company which they sold two years later 3 The Spirits of St Louis editThe Silna brothers moved the Cougars to St Louis Missouri because it was then the largest city in the United States without a professional basketball team and they thought this would make their team more likely to join the NBA In 1974 the Cougars roster and all were overhauled and became the ABA s Spirits of St Louis from 1974 through 1976 4 The 1974 75 Spirits had upset the reigning ABA champion New York Nets in the 1975 Eastern Division Finals before losing to the eventual champion Kentucky Colonels but in the 1975 76 season the Spirits play was uneven and their attendance waned 5 6 The Spirits 1975 76 season was not a success either on the court or in attendance 5 7 In May 1976 due to attendance problems in St Louis the Spirits announced that they were going to move to Salt Lake City Utah to play as the Utah Rockies when a lease agreement for the Salt Palace was arranged 5 This followed an attempted merger of the Spirits and the Utah Stars franchise during the 1975 76 season a merger that had it occurred contemplated the team leaving St Louis for Utah 5 8 But the Stars folded before the merger could occur and instead the Spirits bought the rights to some of the Stars best players including future Hall of Famer Moses Malone 5 8 In another effort to be included in the ABA NBA merger the Silna brothers proposed selling the Spirits to a Utah group buying the Kentucky Colonels franchise and moving the Colonels to Buffalo to replace the Buffalo Braves who were then planning to move to Hollywood Florida 9 The Spirits were not included in the ABA NBA merger with the St Louis and Kentucky players being put into a special dispersal draft Marvin Barnes went to the Detroit Pistons for 500 000 Moses Malone went to the Portland Trail Blazers for 300 000 Ron Boone went to the Kansas City Kings for 250 000 Randy Denton went to the New York Knicks for 50 000 and Mike Barr also went to the Kansas City Kings for 15 000 9 10 The folding of the Spirits dissolved a very talented basketball team one that likely would have competed successfully in the NBA Twelve players from the final two Spirits of St Louis rosters 1974 76 played in the NBA during the 1976 77 season and beyond Maurice Lucas Ron Boone Marvin Barnes Caldwell Jones Lonnie Shelton Steve Green Gus Gerard Moses Malone Don Adams Don Chaney M L Carr and Freddie Lewis 11 Deal editWhile the Silna brothers were left out of the NBA they nonetheless managed to turn it into one of the greatest deals in the history of professional sports 12 13 14 Of the seven teams that finished the final ABA season the NBA would only accept 4 in the merger The Virginia Squires folded shortly after the season 15 The Colonels negotiated a 3 3 million equivalent to 17 7 million in 2023 buyout from the remaining ABA teams 16 15 However the Spirits held out for more 17 and in June 1976 the owners of the four merging ABA teams the Denver Nuggets Indiana Pacers New York Nets and the San Antonio Spurs agreed to pay the St Louis owners 2 2 million equivalent to 11 8 million in 2023 in cash up front and an additional 1 7 share of each of the four remaining teams television broadcast revenue for as long as the NBA or its successors continues in its existence in return for the Spirits folding 15 5 13 18 This was based on the principle that all seven remaining ABA franchise should get an equal share in the TV revenue of the merged teams 15 16 Thus the Silnas would receive checks from the NBA on a yearly basis representing a 4 7 share of the television money that would normally go to each NBA franchise or roughly two percent of the entire league s TV money as compared to the roughly three and a third percent received by each active franchise 5 19 Additionally the Silnas inserted a clause in the contract stipulating that their share could not drop below the amount generated from a 28 team league 15 With the NBA expanding to 30 teams each of the former ABA teams was required to pay the Silnas a 1 196 share 1 7 of 1 28 of total league TV revenue instead of 1 210 1 7 of 1 30 giving the Silnas a 1 49 share The contract defined broadcast revenue very broadly which their attorney during the merger negotiations Donald Schupak pointed out could not be evaded or made obsolete 20 The Silnas brothers wanted to join the NBA and had originally hoped to parlay the deal into an NBA franchise of their own 17 16 instead the NBA moved forward with paying the brothers 45 each 12 and their partner lawyer Schupak 10 12 the annual amounts The first year the deal yielded revenue for the Silnas in 1980 81 of a modest 521 749 21 However as the NBA s popularity exploded in 1980s and 1990s the league s television rights were sold to CBS and then NBC and additional deals were struck with the TNT and TBS cable networks league television revenue soared into the hundreds of millions of dollars Thanks to the deal the Silnas made millions through the 1980s and at least 4 4 million per year through the 1990s 19 From 1999 through 2002 the deal netted the Spirits owners at least 12 53 million per year from 2003 2006 their take was at least 15 6 million per year 12 By 2010 11 they were receiving 17 45 million annually 21 In 2014 the deal was costing each former ABA team 5 million a year 22 The Silna brothers had received roughly 300 million in revenue as of 2014 23 despite the fact that the Spirits never played an NBA game nor dealt with the costs of fielding a team 24 They credit their terrific deal to planning they had done ahead of the merger for the Virginia Squires owners the Silnas had expected the Spirits and Colonels to enter the NBA but for the ailing Squires to be left out and the Silnas thought up the television revenue deal as a way to treat the Squires owners fairly if the Squires did not join the NBA with the other ABA teams 12 However the deal cut by the Silna brothers and the incredible amount of revenue it has produced over the years has itself become legend 12 There have been numerous attempts by the NBA and the former ABA clubs to buy out the deal 15 23 It was reported that a 6 million settlement was under consideration in the 1980s 21 With New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson purchasing the New Orleans Hornets from the NBA in 2012 and planning to rename the team there had been talk that the NBA might negotiate a deal to end the TV deals for the Silna brothers in exchange for rights to the Spirits name 25 This ended up not happening as the Hornets were renamed the Pelicans In January 2014 a conditional settlement agreement between the NBA the former ABA clubs and the Silnas was announced 26 16 27 As part of the deal the Silnas were reported to be receiving a 500 million equivalent to 644 million in 2023 upfront payment from the former ABA teams 23 15 In return the former ABA teams would get majority stake in the Spirits of St Louis Basketball Club L P which will retain control of a portion of the TV revenue streams of the former ABA teams with the option to purchase the remaining stake held by the Silnas in the future 26 28 23 21 Also the Silnas will drop their litigation against the league seeking a share of additional media revenue streams with the NBA agreeing to grant some of the disputed funds to the Spirits 27 26 23 The settlement was completed in April 2014 29 30 Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme editThe Silnas lost the money that they had invested with Bernie Madoff with the trustee for the victims of the scheme alleging that Silna and his associates had received 24 million in unearned income from Madoff 31 32 References edit a b Sandomir Richard April 28 2016 Ozzie Silna Savvy A B A Owner Who Got Rich Off the N B A Dies at 83 via NYTimes com When Negotiation Mistakes Compound over Time PON Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School 2021 11 15 Retrieved 2022 04 23 a b Burke Monte Revisiting The Greatest Sports Deal Of All Time Forbes Retrieved 2022 04 23 a b Pluto Terry 1990 Loose Balls The Short Wild Life of the American Basketball Association Simon amp Schuster pp 349 351 ISBN 978 1 4165 4061 8 a b c d e f g h Spirits of St Louis RememberTheABA com Pluto pp 387 388 Pluto pp 372 390 427 429 a b Pluto pp 386 387 a b Spirits of St Louis Detailed Year to Year Notes RememberTheABA com Archived January 1 1970 at remembertheaba com Error unknown archive URL Pluto p 435 Pluto pp 388 389 a b c d e f Pells Eddie May 27 2006 Enterprising Brothers Converted NBA Buyout Of ABA Team Into Multimillion Dollar Windfall Seattle Post Intelligencer Associated Press a b Rovell Darren June 28 2007 NBA Edition Silna Family Fortune And The Draft www cnbc com Pluto pp 431 433 a b c d e f g Aldridge David 2014 01 13 Winds shift in Chicago again with Bulls decision to deal Deng National Basketball Association Retrieved 2014 05 17 a b c d Briggs Bill 2014 02 17 Deal of a Lifetime Brothers Dunk Huge NBA Dollars Without Team NBC News Retrieved May 17 2014 a b Adkisson Knowles 2014 04 16 Silna Settles Longtime NBA Dispute for 500M The Malibu Times Retrieved 2014 05 17 Pluto pp 428 433 a b Pluto p 433 Wertheim Jon 2014 04 09 Best sports deal ever How the Silnas outsmarted the NBA Sports Illustrated Retrieved 2014 05 17 a b c d Schoettle Anthony 2014 01 14 Deal may extricate Pacers from costly TV rights deal from ABA days Indianapolis Business Journal Retrieved 2014 05 17 Buckner Candace 2014 01 28 ABA TV settlement approaching 1 billion The Indianapolis Star Retrieved 2014 05 17 a b c d e Sandomir Richard 2014 01 07 Payout May Come for an A B A Team That Is Long Gone New York Times Retrieved 2014 05 16 Sandomir Richard September 6 2012 No Team No Ticket Sales but Plenty of Cash Former A B A Owners Ozzie and Daniel Silna Earn Millions From N B A The New York Times http www hornets247 com blog 2012 05 03 angels and spirit are the two leading names for a hornets rebrand a b c Rovell Darren Entities reach conditional settlement ESPN Retrieved May 16 2014 a b Mandell Nina 2014 01 17 Ending the greatest sports deal of all time will reportedly cost the NBA at least 500 million USA Today Retrieved 2014 05 17 Former ABA Teams NBA amp Spirits Of St Louis Announce Conditional Settlement 2014 01 07 Archived from the original on 2014 05 17 Retrieved 2014 05 17 Silna Settles Longtime NBA Dispute for 500M The Malibu Times Apr 16 2014 THE BEST DEAL EVER Sports Illustrated 2014 04 14 Retrieved 2020 04 19 Sandomir Richard No Team No Ticket Sales but Plenty of Cash Former A B A Owners Ozzie and Daniel Silna Earn Millions From N B A The New York Times September 6 2012 Accessed September 7 2012 Burke Monte April 18 2011 From Hoops To Oops Forbes Retrieved May 1 2014 Rovell Darren January 22 2007 Spirit of ABA deal lives on for Silna brothers ESPN com Grossman Dan 2003 A Deal I Wish I d Done DailySpeculations com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ozzie and Daniel Silna amp oldid 1215846215, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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