Debt Hovers Over New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings

Winning the Stanley Cup won't prevent the New Jersey Devils or the Los Angeles Kings from suffering a financial loss. The Devils neglected to make a payment toward their $80 million debt in September and this year borrowed $10 million from the National Hockey League. The Devils are set to host the Kings this evening in the opening game of the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. According to Forbes research, the remaining finalists include 18 NHL clubs that suffered financial loss during the last season. The financial outlook for the Devils, owned by Jeff Vanderbeek, is so poor that Rob Tilliss of Inner Circle Sports, an advising, finance and investment company, predicts that the team may end up being seized by banks who will proceed with the sale of the team. Vanderbeek has failed to release any comments on the issue as did Curt Ritter, a spokesperson for CIT Group Inc., one of the team's lenders. There are also no available comments from the Kings spokesperson, Mike Altieri, regarding the team's money problems. “Hockey is a difficult sport for most franchises -- other than the Rangers, the Blackhawks, the Red Wings and the Canadian teams, the general predicament is that teams lose money,” Andrew Zimbalist, a sports economist in Northampton, Massachusetts, said during a phone interview on the issue.