{"id":403581,"date":"2025-11-25T12:31:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T12:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/403581\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T12:31:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T12:31:17","slug":"phoenix-suns-ownership-battle-takes-aim-at-mat-ishbias-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/403581\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix Suns Ownership Battle Takes Aim at Mat Ishbia\u2019s Decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLitigation pitting Phoenix Suns<\/a> and Phoenix Mercury<\/a> minority owners Kisco WC Sports and Kent Circle Investments against Suns Legacy Holdings\u2014the Delaware LLC that owns the Suns and Mercury\u2014and owner Mat Ishbia expanded on Monday with Kisco and Kent Circle countersuing for breach of contract, fraud and related claims.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe two sides have sued each other in Delaware Chancery Court in a legal battle that began in August. At the time, Kisco, which is led by Andrew Kohlberg, and Kent Circle, led by Scott Seldin,\u00a0sought a court order<\/a> permitting them to investigate what they contend are potential breaches of a limited liability company agreement, mismanagement of the team and conflicts of interest. Last month, the lawsuit to inspect financial documents\u00a0was dismissed<\/a>\u00a0as Kisco and Kent Circle released a statement saying they had obtained sufficient access to records.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeparately, Suns Legacy Holdings sued Kisco and Kent Circle in October, seeking a declaratory judgment that a capital call held last June 2 was valid under operating agreements. The call involved a loan-to-equity conversion that Legacy contends was contractually authorized. Legacy also describes the conversion as sensible given Ishbia\u2019s ambitions for the Suns and Mercury through \u201cbold trades, competitive salary commitments for star players, construction of a world-class practice facility, and the signing of creative, exposure-enhancing broadcast agreements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tKisco and Kent Circle view the call differently. Their attorneys say it was part of \u201ca scheme to threaten our clients with massive dilution of their interests in the Suns if they failed to fund a capital call within 10 days\u2019 notice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Ishbia bought a majority stake in the Suns in 2022 for $4 billion, all 16 of the limited partners at the time were offered buyouts for what Legacy says was a \u201cmassive profit\u201d that reflects \u201cnearly 20 times their invested capital.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOf the 16, 14 took the buyouts, but Kisco and Kent Circle declined.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a filing authored by Michael A. Barlow and other attorneys from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Kisco and Kent Circle contend Ishbia has \u201cspent wildly on player and coach contracts\u201d and \u201cmortgaged the Suns\u2019 future by trading away valuable draft picks for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong other allegations brought against Ishbia are that he \u201cextended a loan to the Suns at an interest rate exorbitantly above market\u201d and \u201cleased the Mercury\u2019s practice facility from himself at undisclosed rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe minority owners also maintain that Ishbia has left money on the table by \u201cknowingly forgo[ing] significant revenue opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo that end, Kisco and Kent Circle reference Ishbia putting Suns and Mercury games on TV for free<\/a>. In 2023, the Suns and Mercury struck a deal to air games via a pair of over-the-air Gray Television channels and a digital streaming service. Many other NBA and WNBA teams\u2019 local broadcasts are available through regional sports networks that require fans to buy subscriptions.<\/p>\n

\n\tKisco and Kent Circle also note that Ishbia decided to reduce concession-stand prices \u201cwell below market, again forgoing a legitimate revenue stream.\u201d Last December, the Suns and Mercury\u00a0introduced<\/a>\u00a0\u201caffordable, fan-friendly food options\u201d at Mortgage Matchup Center in the form of five items\u2014hot dogs, chips, popcorn, fountain soda and water\u2014for $2 each.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn addition, the counterclaims portray Ishbia as spending too much money on basketball-related decisions that haven\u2019t worked out.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Suns have also fired three coaches over [Ishbia\u2019s] three-year tenure, two of whom the company is still paying tens of millions not to coach the Suns,\u201d Kisco and Kent Circle charge.<\/p>\n

\n\tThey also mention Los Angeles Clippers guard Bradley Beal, who negotiated a buyout from the Suns in July. Beal is highlighted when Kisco and Kent Circle complain that ownership<\/a> is paying players \u201cnearly a hundred million dollars not to play for the Suns.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAttorneys for Legacy Holdings will answer the counterclaims, deny wrongdoing and seek their dismissal. Expect Legacy Holdings\u2019 attorneys to argue the allegations of financial mismanagement are untrue and designed to badmouth Ishbia and pressure him to offer more to buy out Kisco and Kent Circle.<\/p>\n

\n\tThose attorneys will likely also maintain that some of the allegations rely on what might be called sports or business critiques of Ishbia. For instance, Ishbia is blamed for trades and signings, and for not charging more money for services. But Legacy Holdings will probably assert those critiques are protected by the law\u2019s deference for managerial discretion. In other words, it\u2019s not illegal for Ishbia to have overseen the Suns\u2019 trade for Beal instead of for other players. It\u2019s also not illegal for Ishbia to appeal to fans at a time when affordability is a major concern in the U.S. by letting them watch games for free and charging them only $2 for menu items.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis isn\u2019t a lawsuit,\u201d a Suns spokeswoman told\u00a0Sportico\u00a0in a statement. \u201cIt\u2019s a shameless shakedown dressed up as legal process.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe statement asserted that Ishbia has been committed to spend money to improve the two teams and that he \u201ctold all the investors that they could step up with him or sell their stake and step aside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the Suns see it, \u201cKohlberg and Seldin stayed in and now they\u2019re trying to freeload off the value Mat created\u201d and \u201cwant to drag the organization backward.\u201d The Suns also criticize Kohlberg and Seldin for admitting \u201cin this filing that investing in the team and its fans\u201d isn\u2019t good business.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the two sides launch missives at the other in court filings and in public statements, the most likely outcome remains the same: Eventually the minority owners will sell their shares at a price they find acceptable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Litigation pitting Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury minority owners Kisco WC Sports and Kent Circle Investments against Suns…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":403582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,8664,1589,1502,1721,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-403581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-ownership","12":"tag-phoenix","13":"tag-phoenix-mercury","14":"tag-phoenix-suns","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115610352765801145","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}