Jun. 1--Tired of fighting with the Orlando Magic over hotel taxes, hotelier Harris Rosen is talking about buying the team. 

In an offer that Rosen is circulating widely -- to everyone except the team itself -- sources say that Rosen wants to buy the team from Amway magnate Rich DeVos for about $140 million. That's considerably more than the $85 million DeVos paid for the team in 1991 -- but considerably less than the team and independent sources say it's worth today. 

And many observers are wondering if Rosen's move isn't more of a publicity stunt -- a lowball offer designed to grab attention -- than a real offer. 

Regardless, Magic officials say they are not interested. "The team is not for sale," said Magic Vice President Cari Coats. 

While the latest tug-of-war appears to be over a basketball team, the true prize is the $120 million raised annually by local hotel taxes. 

The Magic and billionaire Rich DeVos want to use a sizeable chunk of that money to build a new arena and return the team to profitability. 

Rosen, a multimillionaire, wants to keep spending the money on the convention center and promoting tourism -- things that keep his hotels full and his profits soaring. 

Rosen owns six hotels, most of which he has bought with cash. Two of his hotels are on each side of the convention center, which was built and is being expanded with more than $1 billion in hotel-tax money. 

Rosen did not return repeated calls Thursday. But Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood said that Rosen told her that he was interested in buying the team. 

A recent study from Marquette University appraised the team at $165 million, saying that the value could be higher -- and that the team would be worth considerably more with a new arena. 

Coats said the team thinks it is already well worth more than $200 million. 

In recent years, other teams have sold for more: $200 million for the Seattle SuperSonics, and $450 million for the Denver Nuggets. 

Still, Orlando's market is among the smallest in the National Basketbal Association, both in terms of population and the television market. Ticket sales and television rights account for more than half of many teams' budgets. 

If Rosen is serious about his offer, it's news to the Magic. 

Coats said Thursday that Rosen has not even mentioned the possibility to her, even though the two have chatted on several occasions in recent weeks. "He has had every opportunity to make this offer," she said. 

Orange County Chairman Rich Crotty, who is deciding how much money the county could offer the team for a new or renovated arena, also downplayed the seriousness of Rosen's offer. 

"I didn't know that it was anything more than chatter," Crotty said. "Everybody's got a plan on how to deal with the Magic. Until something becomes serious, I'm not going to pay too much attention." 

But Hood is not ready to dismiss Rosen's offer. 

"It's an interesting proposal," Hood said. "Could it work? I don't know." 

Some of those close to Rosen also said privately that Rosen truly thinks that he could run the team more efficiently than DeVos' RDV Sports. 

Team's true value in dispute 

The Magic claim that a combination of high player salaries and low fan turnout at the outmoded TD Waterhouse Centre has resulted in losses totaling $40 million in the past four years. 

If nothing else, Rosen's offer may make a point about those loss claims, because the team has kept quiet about how its value has increased every year. 

Some of the county's top financial minds have likened the team's claims of money losses to someone who invests in the stock market and sees his stocks gain value every year but then claims to be losing because of the small fee he pays to his broker each year. 

That's a point that hoteliers have been stressing. "Their investment dollars have obviously gone up," said Rich Maladecki, president of the Central Florida Hotel/Lodging association. 

Coats conceded the point Thursday, saying the team has not tried to keep the Magic's rising value a secret. But when asked if she thought Rosen's offer was serious, Coats said: "I can appreciate all of Harris' creativity. And this is certainly creative." 

The team originally asked for $121.5 million from the county's hotel taxes, $50 million from the city and $28.5 million from the state. In exchange, the team offered to pay $10 million in cash and $40 million in revenues from the building, such as a ticket tax. 

Hood said that Rosen also talked about re-selling the team to the public, possibly in the form of a stock offering. But, Hood added, that was the murkiest part of Rosen's proposal. 

The National Football League's Green Bay Packers are publicly owned. 

But no NBA teams are publicly owned. In fact, the league doesn't even allow that, according to Paul Anderson, assistant director of Marquette's National Sports Law Institute. 

Gwyneth K. Shaw of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. 

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