The Ottawa Senators are still weeks away from finding a resolution to their ongoing sale process, at least according to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. However, it seems as if the long wait has cost the league a bit of money.

Presumptive top bidder Steve Apostolopoulos has pulled out of the sale process, Ottawa Sun reporter Bruce Garrioch reports. Apostolopoulos is believed to have tabled the only bid worth at least $1 billion of the four interested groups that submitted a final bid.

Garrioch reports that Apostolopoulos felt the negotiations around the sale were taking too long. The Canadian billionaire found it difficult to see the end of the process in sight.

Apostolopoulos is not the first interested party to pull out of the process. Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds and his group pulled out before final bids were submitted. That group left the process because the group did not receive an exclusive window to negotiate an arena deal with the city of Ottawa.

With Apostolopoulos pulling out, three bidders remain. Toronto businessman Michael Andlauer, Toronto businessmen Jeffery and Michael Kimel, and Los Angeles producer Neko Sparks remain in the running.

Andlauer is the presumptive favorite as of now. He owns a stake in the Montreal Canadiens and has a relationship with the NHL's board of governors as a result. Andlauer needs to sell that stake in order to buy the Senators, however.

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The group led by Sparks is in the race. However, the Ottawa Sun reports they have a low chance of winning. The Sparks bid does not have proper funding, and the NHL views the group as a “fallback position.”

The longer this process continues, the more it could affect the on-ice product. Senators forward Alex DeBrincat is mulling his long-term future with the team. A drawn-out sale process certainly plays into that deliberation.

In any event, the Senators are no closer to finding a new owner as of now. The NHL remains adamant that a “very good” result will come of this process. Let's see if their conviction pays off in the end.