Sports Authority Liquidation To Continue

Sports Authority Still Being Sold

Every halfway-casual sports fan knows that, no matter what’s going on in the game itself, it’s not over until the fat lady sings. Well, in the case of the beleaguered Sports Authority brand, it seems as if she mercifully might.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sports Authority has finalized a deal with lenders to keep funds flowing through its stores as it finishes what going-out-of-business sales are still wrapping up. According to court filings, revenue from these sales has been going almost exclusively to banks through previously negotiated deals. With the agreement, Sports Authority has secured funding for its stores through Friday (July 15).

Though these same lenders claim that the total amount owed to them by the failing sporting goods chain tops out at $240 million, a separate filing limited the amount lenders would seek to just $71 million. Lenders also agreed to be on the hook for payments made to suppliers that shipped goods after Sports Authority had declared its bankruptcy back in March. And in a final act of financial magnanimity, lenders will dish out $2.85 million to cover the contractually obligated bonuses for Sports Authority executives, four of whom will receive $1.5 million of that purse.

Sports Authority may not have many more opportunities to notch victories in its proverbial belt, but this has to be one of them.