Milwaukee Bucks G League affiliate Wisconsin Herd files as creditor in Oshkosh Arena foreclosure case

Attorney Paul Swanson has been appointed receiver of the Oshkosh Arena in a foreclosure claim filed by the arena’s builder.

OSHKOSH – Future Bucks LLC, the Wisconsin Herd’s management team, has filed as a creditor of defendant Fox Valley Pro Basketball Inc. in a recent court document in Bayland Building’s ongoing foreclosure claim against the Oshkosh Arena owner.

In a document filed July 18 in Winnebago County Circuit Court, Future Bucks LLC requested to be added as “an interested third party” in the case because it’s a creditor of arena owner Fox Valley Pro Basketball Inc. and “is a counterparty to a contract” with the defendant. The Herd is the G League affiliate of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

The document was filed one day after the court gave notice attorney Paul Swanson was appointed receiver of the Oshkosh Arena in the foreclosure case with Bayland Buildings, which is the company that built the facility.

A receiver is a neutral third party appointed by a court to temporarily manage finances, property, assets or business operations. When a receiver is appointed, the company is said to be “in receivership.” Receivership can be an alternative to bankruptcy and can help companies avoid it. The receiver’s goal is to stabilize the company and return it to profitability while protecting the interests of creditors, shareholders and the public.

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According to the court document, Future Bucks LLC requested permission to appear in the case “to receive filings in this matter” because its interests may be affected by “the receiver’s exercise of his duties.”

The request came two months after an inside source revealed to the Northwestern that the Herd could possibly leave Oshkosh as it “no longer wants to work” with the Fox Valley Pro Basketball Inc. over claims of a violation of the current lease.

It’s not exactly certain how Fox Valley Pro Basketball is suspected to be in breach of the lease agreement, which runs to 2026, but the source explained the Herd has opt-out provisions that could release the team from that lease.

Fox Valley Pro Basketball listed the 3,500-seat arena for sale two months prior amid a series of financial difficulties, but Bayland Buildings subsequently filed a foreclosure case.

In the suit filed in June, Bayland Buildings alleges Fox Valley Pro Basketball owes an outstanding balance of $12,417,464.82 and has been “consistently delinquent” in making payments.

Fox Valley Pro Basketball responded to the case by saying it “lacks knowledge and information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegation and therefore deny and put Plaintiff to its burden of proof.”

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The arena owner also denied the claim of being consistently delinquent in making payments despite stating it has not made a payment to Bayland since March 2024.

Swanson, the court-appointed receiver, also filed a document relating to this case July 17 stating the defendant’s legal counsel has refused to provide him with a list of the owner’s creditors and the amounts owed. Swanson then listed 37 possible creditors “to cast a wide net” and include all the parties from Fox Valley Pro Basketball’s previous bankruptcy case.

The next court date in the foreclosure case is a motion hearing at 10 a.m. Aug. 5 before Winnebago County Circuit Court Judge John A. Jorgensen.

How did we get here?

Fox Valley Pro Basketball Inc. has faced a number of financial challenges since first building the arena in 2017.

A general contractor sued the area owners for $21.5 million in 2019 before Fox Valley Pro Basketball filed for bankruptcy, reporting more than 100 creditors. Fox Valley Pro Basketball Inc. eventually reached settlements with the creditors.

The Northwestern obtained records from the city’s finance department this May showing the Oshkosh Arena owner owed more than $619,000 in combined personal property and real estate taxes.

Fox Valley Pro Basketball stated it did not pay its 2023 real estate tax obligations, but said it lacks “knowledge and information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the remaining allegation” that the total amounts to $625,575.69.

Contact Justin Marville at jmarville@gannett.com.