DALLAS (AP) — Tom Hicks, the Texas businessman and philanthropist who owned two Dallas-area professional sports franchises and an English Premier League soccer team, has died. He was 79.
Spokesperson Lisa LeMaster said in statement that Hicks died peacefully Saturday in Dallas surrounded by family.
Hicks owned the NHL’s Dallas Stars from 1995–2011, winning the Stanley Cup in 1999. He also owned baseball’s Texas Rangers from 1998–2010, a period when they won three American West Division titles and made their first World Series appearance just months after the team was sold. In 2007, he acquired a 50% stake in Liverpool.
“Being shoulder to shoulder with him was always about more than ballparks and stadiums, though,” Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement. “It was about personal respect, trust and friendship. We shared a lot of miles together, and I’ll miss him greatly. My heart goes out to his family.”
Hicks co-founded Hicks & Haas in 1984 and Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst in 1989, helping reshape private equity and investing strategy.
“Tom Hicks was an innovative businessman and a pioneer in private equity,” fellow Texas businessman Ross Perot Jr. said in a statement. “He combined his commitment to business and sports through his ownership of the Stars and the Rangers.”
One of Hicks’ most notable moments with the Rangers came 25 years ago at baseball’s winter meetings in Dallas, when the team signed Alex Rodriguez, then a 25-year-old All-Star shortstop, to a $252 million, 10-year contract in free agency.
A-Rod’s deal at the time was $2 million more than Hicks had paid to buy the entire team only 2 1/2 years earlier. It also then doubled the previous record for a sports contract, the $126 million, six-year agreement in October 1997 between forward Kevin Garnett and the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.
Rodriguez led the American League in homers in all three of his seasons with the Rangers. He hit 156 homers in that span while the team’s overall record was 216-270. He was traded to the New York Yankees at the start of spring training in 2004.
The Rangers’ first World Series appearance in October 2010 came after the team was bought that August by an ownership group that then included Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. After an initial agreement to buy the team from Hicks at that start of that year, a messy bankruptcy case ensued before the group finally acquired it at auction with a bid valued at $590 million.
The Stars, the NHL franchise that moved from Minnesota before the 1993-94 season, became the league’s first champion from the Sun Belt when they raised the Stanley Cup in 1999 after beating Buffalo in Game 6. They made the Stanley Cup Final again the following season, losing a six-game series to New Jersey.
Brett Hull scored the Cup-winning goal for the Stars in 1999. Hicks had signed him to a $17 million, three-year contract in free agency the previous summer after Hull had been an All-Star in seven of his previous 11 seasons with the St. Louis Blues.
Before the 2001-02 season, the Stars moved a few blocks in downtown Dallas, from Reunion Arena to the American Airlines Center where the team still plays and shares with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. The Stars, too, went into bankruptcy before being acquired by Canadian businessman Tom Gaglardi in 2011.
The Stars in a statement Sunday lauded the team’s unprecedented on-ice success under Hicks’ ownership.
“He also played an instrumental role in the development and planning of the American Airlines Center, along with the grassroots growth of hockey through the creation of numerous StarCenter facilities,” the team said. “Our franchise would not be in the position we are today without the ownership of Mr. Hicks. His legacy will be honored by our franchise for decades to come.”
Hicks served as paratrooper in the Army Reserves and was Commissioner of the American Battle Monuments Commission. He served on the University of Texas’s Board of Regents from 1994 to 1999.
Hicks is survived by his wife of 35 years, Cinda Cree Hicks, and his six children — Thomas Ollis Hicks Jr., Mack Hardin Hicks, John Alexander Hicks, Robert Bradley Hicks, William Cree Hicks and Catherine Forgrave Hicks.
His children released a joint statement, saying:
“Of everything he accomplished in his remarkable life, Tom Hicks’s most cherished title was, ‘Dad.’ No matter the trials and tribulations he faced in life, he was constant in his generosity and love for his family. He remains a guiding force for our family, and we are deeply honored to continue expanding his legacy. Although we are devastated by this loss, we are profoundly grateful to have been his children.”
The Rangers in a statement Sunday described Hicks as “a passionate and competitive owner and Texas Rangers fan. The club extends its thoughts and prayers to Mr. Hicks’ wife Cinda, his six children and his entire family as they mourn a legendary Texas businessman, philanthropist, and sportsman.”
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