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Leonsis reportedly refinances Caps debt with $100M loan

US-POLITICS-CONGRESS-SPORTS-NHL

Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis speaks during a briefing on the state of hockey in the US, including instructional hockey and safety in youth sports, held by The Congressional Hockey Caucus on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2013. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

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Some exciting financial news that’s sure to get you out of your chair:

Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has reportedly refinanced his hockey club’s debt with a sizeable loan, according to Forbes.

Leonsis, 56, is the founder, majority owner, chairman and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, a group that owns the Capitals, the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and the arena all three teams call home -- the Verizon Center.

As for Leonsis’ Caps-related debt and loan, here’s more from Forbes’ Mike Ozanian:

Sources have told me that Ted Leonsis refinanced the debt on his hockey team last month with a $100 million package led by Citigroup. The loan was oversubscribed, meaning more people wanted to buy the debt than was available. And the refinancing was bigger than the previous loan, thereby increasing the amount of debt on the hockey team.

Leonsis bought the Capitals for $85 million in 1999 and we valued the team at $250 million last November.

Ozanian notes the NHL in general appears to be taking on more debt, something PHT wrote yesterday in a report that the league had increased its credit facility.

According to Bloomberg, the facility was raised from $400 million to $600 million:

The league also received a better rate on the agreement with Citigroup Inc. (C), which was completed last month. The new facility is priced at the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, plus 250 basis points. The previous facility was $400 million at Libor plus 300 basis points.

Professional sports leagues create loan pools by using collateral such as national broadcast contracts to secure credit at better terms than most teams could individually.

The NHL declined to comment on the report.