Despite speculation ahead of Sports Authority’s bankruptcy auction last Thursday, bids for Sports Authority stores did not come in from Modell’s Sporting Goods or U.K.-based Sports Direct International Plc, as had been reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The lack of a bid from either company might be the final nail in the coffin for Sports Authority, which many had hoped would be saved — at least in part — by a last-minute offer from a firm such Modell’s or Sports Direct.
Last week, the WSJ said Sports Direct and Modell’s were in talks about a potential deal to acquire as many as 200 Sports Authority stores.
That news follows months of speculation regarding who — if anyone at all — might snap up some of bankrupt Sports Authority’s stores as the retailer liquidates all of its 463 doors.
Although companies still have an opportunity to bid on Sports Authority’s intellectual property, such as its e-commerce platform, this week — hope for saving any of the retailer’s brick-and-mortar locations has all but vanished.
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Once a leading sporting-goods retailer, Sports Authority filed for Chapter 11 protection in March — yielding under the weight of hefty real estate costs, increased e-commerce competition and the rise of other sporting goods retailers such as Dick’s Sporting Goods and Modell’s.
