Sports Authority Inc. has received potential bids worth at least enough to pay the cost of the company’s bankruptcy, the troubled chain’s financial adviser said in court.

If potential buyers follow through on their “letters-of- intent” and the company liquidates its inventory, Sports Authority will raise enough cash to cover the administrative costs of the bankruptcy, Steve Coulombe, with FTI Consulting Inc., told a judge overseeing the case.

While Coulombe didn’t put a figure on the costs, a committee of lower-ranking creditors said it was almost $100 million so far, with some claims yet to be quantified. His testimony on Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware, was interrupted by a lawyer who warned that too much detail could jeopardize the sale process. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Mary Walrath agreed and instructed Coulombe not to divulge more.

Coulombe testified in favor of a new loan that Sports Authority says it needs to help cover the cost of operations while it tries to sell its assets. Lower-ranking creditors and store landlords oppose the new loan.

The company has abandoned its hope to reorganize and exit bankruptcy as a smaller chain. Instead, the company will attempt to sell as many of its stores as possible through an auction to a buyer who wants to keep them operating. The company will also sell leases on about 140 of its 463 stores. Those stores are currently being liquidated.

Sports Authority, based in Englewood, Colorado, filed for bankruptcy in March, burdened by high debt from a $1.3 billion buyout in 2006. It had discussed selling stores and intellectual property to rival chain Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc. and other parties prior to the filing without success.

The case is In re Sports Authority Holdings Inc., 16-10527, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).