Dallas Businessman Thomas Dundon Emerges as Potential Buyer of NHL's Carolina Hurricanes

Dallas businessman Thomas Dundon is looking to become the latest local billionaire to own a sports team, according to several media reports.Peter Karmanos Jr., owner of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes, is in discussions to sell the team to Dundon, according to SportsNet.com.The talks reportedly heated up after discussions with North Texas sports attorney Chuck Greenberg -- cooled down. Greenberg, who led an ownership that bought the Frisco RoughRiders minor league baseball team in 2014, had previously been interested in buying the NHL's Dallas Stars.Hurricanes president Don Waddell said Wednesday that Dundon and other possible buyers emerged when discussions with Greenberg slowed down. That's according to HeraldSun.com. In July, Raleigh media reported that Greenberg and the team were close to a $500 million deal."Others groups that have now stepped forward [are] taking hard looks at the franchise," Waddell was quoted as saying. "Obviously, Tom Dundon's name came out today, a Dallas businessperson who has a lot of interest."Dundon and officials with the team could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.Canadian media outlet RDS first reported Wednesday that Dundon may have an interest in either acquiring the team from Karmanos or becoming a partner with Karmanos.The hockey team purchase would make Dundon the latest local billionaire with a major sports team to call his own. That includes Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, and Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team.Oil magnates Ray Davis, co-founder of Energy Transfer Partners, and Bob R. Simpson head the investment group that owns the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball. Dundon is the founder of a subprime auto-loan financing company now called Santander Consumer USA. In July 2015, he stepped aside as chief executive of the Dallas-based lender as it faced regulatory scrutiny along with its U.S. parent. The companies are affiliated with Banco Santander of Spain.Santander Holdings USA, based in Boston, failed the Federal Reserve's stress test for the second straight year in 2015. The Fed ordered the bank to improve its operations after identifying deficiencies in governance, risk management and capital planning.  Continue reading...