Posted on 07/07/2008 5:03:45 PM PDT by abb
The storied Pittsburgh Steelers football franchise has been secretly shopped to potential buyers amid continuing divisions among the five sons of the team's founder, Art Rooney Sr.
The talks affect not only one of America's iconic sports franchises, but one of its most fabled sports families. Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, who helped build the National Football League and is the oldest of the five sons, wants to consolidate his control by acquiring most of his brothers' shares in the Steelers over 10 years, those briefed on the talks said.
In a statement1 Monday afternoon, Dan Rooney confirmed these efforts and said, "I have spent my entire life devoted to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football League. I will do everything possible to work out a solution to ensure my father's legacy of keeping the Steelers in the Rooney family and in Pittsburgh for at least another 75 years."
The statement said the company is restructuring its ownership to ensure compliance with NFL rules. Dan Rooney "wants to stay in the football business while some of his four brothers plan to get out of the NFL and focus their business efforts on their racetracks and other interests." The statement said that Dan Rooney and his son, Steelers President Art Rooney II, are arranging a financing plan to buy Dan's brothers' shares in the team in order to continue substantial ownership of the franchise by the Rooneys.
But some of the brothers and younger third-generation family members are asking whether a better deal can be put together, if there is to be an ownership change.
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(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
ping
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08189/895371-66.stm
Rooneys look to restructure Steelers ownership
I know who I'm supporting here!
Can they play basketball too? We need one of those here in Seattle.
Rush,
Are you logged on? Bidding time on this item is limited, jump on it while you can El Rushbo.
Big rumor in the league is that none other than Rush Limbaugh is a possible majority owner in waiting.
I would love for someone to buy the Steelers and move them to Los Angeles!
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"Los Angeles Steelers"??? *shudder*
ping
Ain't that the God's truth!!
Hasn't Kalifornia ruined enough teams already?
" He toys with the idea of buying an N.F.L. franchise "
Rush,
All I ask is a small finder’s fee. You can PM me, we will work it out to everyone’s satisfaction.
Don’t forget that Dan Rooney endorsed Obama.
Also note that the city built them a new stadium (along with the Pirates getting a new park) at a time when they owed MORE on Three Rivers ($40M) than it cost new ($30M)
Let’s not also forget the half-BILLION taxpayer $$$ going to fund a subway tunnel that goes under the river and to the stadiums.
And they have the temerity to hint they will “do everything they can to keep the team in town”
>:(
These people are professional leeches. Go to LA (or wherever) and take the team and the politicians you ‘favour’ with you.
I just want to see Steeler Fan totally melt down.
http://news.steelers.com/article/91693/
Steelers Ownership Transition
For the past two years the Rooney family has had discussions about a restructuring of the family’s ownership of the Steelers in order to ensure compliance with NFL ownership policies and the continuation of Rooney family ownership and operation of the team.
Pittsburgh Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, the oldest son of late team founder Art Rooney, wants to stay in the football business while some of his four brothers plan to get out of the NFL and focus their business efforts on their racetracks and other interests. Dan Rooney, and his son, Steelers President Art Rooney II, are arranging a financing plan to buy Dan’s brothers’ shares in the team in order to continue substantial ownership of the franchise by the Rooneys.
The other Rooney brothers – Art Jr., Timothy, Patrick and John – each currently has an ownership interest in the Steelers. Another related family, the McGinleys, also owns a minority interest in the team. The Rooney family owns racetracks in New York and Florida, and like many in recent years, these facilities have added forms of gaming that are inconsistent with NFL gambling policy.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asked former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to serve as a league representative in discussions with the family in order to reach an agreement on the separation of the gambling interests and on a restructuring of ownership going forward if part of the team is sold.
Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney stated, “I have spent my entire life devoted to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football League. I will do everything possible to work out a solution to ensure my father’s legacy of keeping the Steelers in the Rooney family and in Pittsburgh for at least another 75 years.”
Steelers President Art Rooney II stated, “There is no reason to believe that the current internal discussions will have any impact on our fans or on our team this season or in the seasons to come.”
Here’s hoping the new owners run the franchise into the ground.
Let me guess, you are a Browns fan.
are you listening if you are rush???
Not gonna happen!
Call Rush. He’s got some money.
Maybe Rush is looking for an investment....
Cowboys. One of my hobbies is tweaking Steelers fans’ noses.
The incredible Maras are the exception...(and they’re intermarried x2 with the Rooneys).
And he loves the Steelers.
The Jaguars are a far better choice for that.
Cleveland/Baltimore/wherever/whoever the Browns are next have nothing to be ashamed of. OK, except being from Cleveland and/or Baltimore. Dallas is a failure of colossal proportions. If you had a spacecraft and went to Alpha Centauri and met the aliens and asked them (in alien language of course) if they had any of those 'motivation posters' for failure, they would show you a Dallas Cowboys picture. Even the French would not surrender to Dallas.
Rush has talked (jokingly, I think) about buying a football team.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08190/895506-66.stm
Steelers ownership in turmoil
Potential suitor emerges as some Rooneys try to sell shares
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Rooney family is working to restructure the ownership of the Steelers to comply with National Football League guidelines that prohibit association with racetrack and gambling interests, a process that is forcing several brothers of team chairman Dan Rooney to seek to sell their shares in the franchise, according to a source familiar with the situation.
The move in all likelihood will not affect the current management structure of the Steelers. But, according to the source, it is possible that two or three of the five Rooney brothers, could sell their equal share in the team to Dan Rooney and his son, Art II, the team’s president, or to outside investors — a possibility that has created discord in the family ownership structure.
Chart
PDF: Art Rooney’s legacy to his five sons
Amid suggestions that there are intergenerational tensions among the family members, another source close to the team said that the family remains close but that future issues such as inheritance taxes caused concern for some.
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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/s_576476.html
Steelers’ owners may be changing
By Mike Prisuta
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
The Steelers on Monday said prolonged, ongoing negotiations are under way concerning the “restructuring” of ownership, which could result in the sale of the franchise or a consolidation of control within the Rooney family.
The team said that chairman Dan Rooney and his son, president Art Rooney II, are trying to buy Dan’s brothers’ shares in order to “ensure compliance with NFL ownership policies.”
Discussions have been taking place for two years, the team said in a statement.
Industry analyst Darren Rovell said the potential relocation of the Steelers is not an issue, even if the franchise is ultimately sold.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121546397767833575.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
Pittsburgh’s Rooneys
Quietly Shop the Steelers
Football Club Valued
At Up to $1.2 Billion;
Brotherly Discord
By JOHN R. WILKE
July 8, 2008; Page A1
The Pittsburgh Steelers — owned for 75 years by the same local family — is secretly being shopped to potential buyers as the five sons of the football team’s founder and their heirs spar over the storied franchise’s future.
Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney, the eldest of the brothers, wants to consolidate his control through a 10-year plan to buy out most of their shares, but a well-funded prospective buyer has emerged after some of Mr. Rooney’s brothers and their children raised questions about his offer.
Stanley Druckenmiller, billionaire chairman of Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Capital Management, has expressed interest in acquiring the Steelers, people briefed on the negotiations said.
The closed-door talks affect not only one of America’s iconic sports franchises, but one of its most fabled sports families.
snip
Working in tight secrecy under the code-name “Project Newcastle,” Goldman Sachs & Co. late last year valued the Steelers operations at $800 million to as much as $1.2 billion, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
snip
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Druckenmiller
Stanley Druckenmiller
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Stanley Druckenmiller formerly managed money for George Soros, and now dedicates himself to work full time at Duquesne Capital which he founded in 1981. He is married to Dreyfus Corporation (a Mellon Financial Corporation subsidiary) manager Fiona Biggs, niece of former Morgan Stanley global investment strategist Barton Biggs. In 1985, he became a consultant to Dreyfus and lived in New York City two days each week. He moved there full-time when he was named head of the Dreyfus Fund. He was hired by George Soros in 1988 to replace Victor Niederhoffer at Quantum Fund. With an estimated current net worth of around $3.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes as the 91st-richest person in America. He left Soros in 2000 after taking large losses in technology stocks. Since then he concentrated full time on Duquesne Capital, which has had a very successful track record. He is profiled in the book The New Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager.
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Dallas fan, are we?
You can forget that.......the rest of the owners would never sanction a sale of the Steelers to anyone considering moving the team anywhere.
LA would think smashmouth is some sort of kinky sex. Going to LA would be going from Rooney to Looney!
Hard to imagine the Steelers being owned by someone else.
You must be a Cleveland fan or Raiders or Dallas...
How I interpret the WSJ piece is that Dan wants to keep the team but hasn’t the cash to buy out his brothers. He may have to sell off minority interests to raise cash.
This is an interesting business story aside from the sports angle. And what else is interesting is that this has been bubbling for a year or two without anything leaking out.
I have a good idea, how about a “drink tax” to support the team?
Well said!
I remember hearing that from Baltimore Colts fans, Cleveland Browns fans, Oakland Raiders fans, St Louis Cardinal fans, and LA Rams fans.
As you said, the NFL owners would never sanction moving this particular team.
I heard RUSH Limbaugh was approached as a pootential buyer, RUSH mentioned ( in the NY mag article) he was possibly interested in a franchise and he loves the steelers.
Maybe RUSH could make a trade for Donovon McNabb?
I hope Rush doesn’t get involved. It would mean the end of him as a conservative force. Were he to be involved in the management of an NFL team, one day somehow they would get to him and have enough leverage to make him compromise his principles. They almost got to him after the ESPN thing several years ago.
Rush is doing what he was born to do. Any outside entanglements or business deals or investments or whatever could lead to being exposed to external pressure. It’s a shame, but I can’t see him ever being an NFL owner.
And none of those teams were sold.........the existing ownership (Irsay/Modell/Bidwell/Frontiere) had compelling financial reasons to move the team. You don’t have that in Pittsburgh.
As I stated, if the rest of the NFL owners had a hint that new ownership was going to move the Steelers, they would not vote on (any sale must have 2/3’s approval of existing owners) approving that sale.
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