Sports Authority reportedly gives up on reorganization and plans to liquidate – Los Angeles Times

Sports Authority reportedly has given up on reorganizing under bankruptcy protection and continuing its business, deciding instead to liquidate its assets.

The sporting goods chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March with plans to close 140 of its 463 stores and to reorganize its remaining business after reaching agreement with its creditors.

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But a lawyer for Sports Authority, Robert Klyman, told a judge Tuesday that the chain would look to sell its holdings, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“It has become apparent that the debtors will not reorganize under a plan but instead will pursue a sale,” Klyman told Judge Mary Walrath at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.

Sports Authority, based in Englewood, Colo., had about $1.1 billion of debt when it filed for Chapter 11 last month.

A liquidation of the company also makes it more likely that the Denver Broncos‘ home field, Sports Authority Field at Mile High, will carry a different name at the start of this year’s NFL season, the Denver Post reported.

Sports Authority isn’t the only sporting goods retailer that’s struggling.

Earlier this month, Sport Chalet, a 57-year-old chain based in La Cañada Flintridge, said it was closing all 47 of its stores after years of financial troubles.

Both companies faced stiff competition from rivals such as Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc., mass merchants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and online giant Amazon.com Inc.

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