With Daniels, You Find That Nice Guys Needn’t Finish Last

Sports are filled with eccentric and egocentric rich people who fire managers, coaches and other employees on whims, raise ticket prices indiscriminately, overcharge for concessions and parking, make fools of themselves, call people who wear earrings “fruits” and hoard every nickel.

Then there is Bill Daniels.

Ever wonder if there was a perfect boss? Talk to employees at Prime Ticket. They’ll tell you it is Daniels.

He and Jerry Buss started Prime Ticket in 1985 as 50-50 partners. Daniels put up $5 million, Buss put up television rights to the Lakers, Kings and Forum boxing. Daniels also got 5% of the Lakers, which he still owns.

In 1988, Daniels bought out much of Buss’ interest in Prime Ticket--although Buss maintained 16 1/2%--and began paying rights fees. To this day, Daniels calls Buss “the best business partner I’ve ever had.”

Also in 1988, Daniels hired John Severino as president of Prime Ticket and gave him 5% of the company. And when Prime Ticket moved from Inglewood to Century City, Frank Price, the former president of Columbia Pictures who owned the Century City building that would house the company, got 1% as incentive to lower the monthly rent to $50,000 and to permit Daniels to erect a large Prime Ticket sign on the property.

Daniels also spruced up the new headquarters. Severino got an office at Prime Ticket that was twice as big and twice as nice as the one he had while president of ABC. Vice presidents were given offices that most company presidents could only dream about.

When Prime Ticket started “Press Box,” its critically acclaimed nightly sports news show, the producers were given the best equipment and a new studio.

And no money was spared last year in starting up La Cadena Deportiva, the Spanish-language sports network that is expected to become a national service later this year.

Daniels bought out Severino’s 5% when Severino resigned in August 1992, giving Daniels 82 1/2% of Prime Ticket.

The other day, Daniels sold Prime Ticket, pending routine regulatory approval, for more than $200 million. Daniels said the main part of the deal gives him a considerable amount of stock from the new owners, Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI).

Prime Ticket represents about 25% of Daniels’ holdings, so he is a billionaire, or close to it. He is on the Forbes magazine list of the 400 richest people in the country.

And now he will be sharing some of his wealth.

Daniels said when he negotiated the sale, it was set up so that $10 million in cash would go to what he calls 15 “phantom stockholders” at Prime Ticket. They are vice presidents and department heads who will divvy up the pot.

But that’s not all. Daniels said the remaining 105 or so employees will share a pot of between $1 million and $2 million, which will come out of his own pocket. He said they will receive their bonuses when the sale is approved, which should be in mid-July.

“I just want to reward the people there for a job well done,” he said.

Is it any wonder that Alan Massengale, when he reported the sale at the end of last Friday’s “Press Box” show, said: “There’s no way you could work for a better boss.”

Severino said: “He is one of the most--if not the most--honest, fair and decent human beings I’ve ever been associated with.”

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With the acquisition of Prime Ticket, TCI and its chief executive officer, John Malone, are on the verge of becoming a major player in the sports television business.

TCI plans to go after the Madison Square Garden network, the country’s other major regional sports network. That acquisition, which would also include the New York Knicks, New York Rangers and the Garden, is expected to cost between $800 million and $1 billion.

If TCI can get the MSG network, it would then own or be affiliated with nearly all of the country’s 30 regional sports networks, which reach 44 million cable households. That would put TCI in the same league with ESPN and Turner Broadcasting.

Daniels said he would like to see Roger Werner, Prime Ticket’s current president who formerly was president of ESPN, head the new network. “He has all the qualifications,” Daniels said.

Another top candidate for such a position would be Ed Frazier of Dallas, who is the CEO of Liberty Sports, the TCI subsidiary that oversees the company’s sports holdings.

If events had followed a different course, Daniels instead of Malone, a close friend and associate, would be on the verge of controlling this envisioned major sports cable network. Malone and Daniels started Texas-based Prime Network in 1988, and four years later, TCI and Malone bought out Daniels.

At one point, it was close to being the other way around, but Malone topped Daniels’ offer.

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Daniels is generally regarded as the father of cable television.

This dates to 1952 when Daniels, after flying jet fighters in the Korean war, returned home to Casper, Wyo., and got together with a television engineer, Tom Morrisey, to start a cable service that brought television reception into Casper and surrounding areas from Denver.

They leased a microwave service from the telephone company for $8,500 a month, which, Daniels said, “seemed like all the money in the world.”

They charged $150 for a cable hookup and $7.50 a month. Their customers, fascinated by this new thing called television, were willing to pay it.

Daniels and Associates, now based in Denver and Carlsbad, became one of the country’s major cable operators.

Daniels, 73, is now trying to unload most of his holdings, but he’s not considering retirement. It’s just that as a cable television entrepreneur, this is what he does. He has gotten rich by acquiring companies, building up their value, then selling them.

Daniels has no immediate family besides his brother, Jack. Jack Daniels lives in Albuquerque and once ran for governor of New Mexico.

Bill Daniels, who has been married four times, is currently single.

So what’s he going to do with all his money? He says he doesn’t know. But someday, there could be more windfalls for loyal employees, of which there are many.

Some kind of boss.