Sources: Tom Hicks Is Seeking Investment Partners For Sports Empire

Apparently, even multi-millionaire sports owners aren’t immune from the current economic slowdown and credit crunch.

In an effort to keep his sports empire ahead of the struggling economy, Rangers/Stars owner Tom Hicks has started courting potential investors to take on minority shares of one or both clubs, three sources said this week. Reached by email at Tuesday’s Stars-Vancouver game, Hicks declined to comment. TSN, Canada’s version of ESPN, also reports Hicks is interested in adding investors.

According to one source, Hicks, who is expected to be in Surprise on Wednesday, is willing to part with about 20-25 percent of the sports franchises. That could infuse the teams with $150 million or more in cash, giving them more flexibility.

While such a move would mark a departure in his custodianship of the teams, holding about 80 percent of a club is not new to him.  When he purchased the Rangers in 1998, he held only about 80 percent equity in the team and its assets. He has, however, slowly bought out his minority partners to take almost sole ownership of the teams. That’s a fairly uncommon situation in pro sports today, where many clubs are either corporately held or managed by large investment group.

Hicks has long maintained he expects the Rangers and Stars to be held for multiple generations within his family and there is reason to believe he still has plans along those lines. He’s been grooming son Thomas O. Hicks Jr. to take over Hicks Holdings. Recently-wed son Alex Hicks has moved from an assistant in the baseball operations department to a vice presidency.

There will be rampant speculation about potential investors since former partner and President George W. Bush is now back in Dallas and a neighbor to Hicks. Also, in February, 2008, when Hicks hired Nolan Ryan as the Rangers president, he acknowledged the possibility that Ryan might one day have a role in ownership. To this point, however, Ryan has shown no inclination to get more financially involved. Ryan and his sons currently own a pair of minor league teams in Round Rock (Triple-A) and Corpus Christi (Double-A) .

Hicks can’t, however, afford to sell any of his soccer team in the English Premiership: Liverpool Football club. He has been locked in a standoff with partner George Gillett. Each owns 50 percent of the team. If he sold any of his interest in that club, it would turn him into a minority owner there.

We hope to speak direcetly with Hicks on Wednesday to see where this may be headed.