Sunday, July 27, 2008
Rooney Ownership Fiasco
Maybe I have this all wrong and I don't clearly understand the situation. Maybe someone out there has read more or understands the nuances better than I do surrounding the specifics. There hasn't been much made public about the pending ownership sales since last week so I may be going on old news, but it's news I find troubling. Here is what doesn't add up for me: Dan Rooney owns 16% of the team. The league would like the controlling party to own 30%. To stop someone else from running the team, Dan needs to own 51% or have 51% in his corner. Dan's first cousins, The McGinley family, owns 20% and they are not interested in selling. Fine. We're starting out with 36% in our corner to keep control of the team with Dan's 16% and his cousin's 20%. To keep the billionaire fantasy football players out of the mix, Dan needs another 15% of the shares voting in his favor. There are 4 brothers. The team is valued between $800 million and $1.2 billion, so let's call it an even billion. That means each Rooney brother's 16% is worth $160 million. Each 1% represents 10 million dollars. It is rumored that Dan offered each brother $35 million dollars for 5% of the team. That would give Dan another 20% meaning he would own 36% and The McGinleys 20% would vote for him to run the business giving him 56% voting shares. In our example of worth, 5% of the team is worth $50 million, maybe slightly more, but maybe slightly less. They all said "no". I also read that Art (The Chief) wrote each son a letter in the days leading up to his death asking them to keep control of The Steelers as a family. So, with their father's last request to keep the team under The Rooney name, they are turning down $35 million for 5% of the team under the guise that they are worried about their children and grandchildren? Ummmm, I'm not buying that for one second. This goes deeper than that. They could sell to Dan for $35 million and make the entire city breath easier - or they can put them up for public sale. Here's where it gets interesting. A lot of people are asking that we give the brothers a break, that they are trying to do what's right for them. If you ask me, it's BS considering their father's legacy and the city's infatuation with the team. The only reason they each won't sell Dan 5% is that it renders their other 11% worthless to someone who wants to control the team. Yes, it's still 11% of potentially $1.2 billion dollars of worth, but a Daniel Snyder type isn't going to spend silly money to only control 44% of the team. The way I see it, they are dangling complete control of the Steelers out to the highest bidder. If they sell 64% of the team or even 51% to any one person....and then try to rationalize it by saying The Chief would understand as they were just looking out for their own....even after reading the letters....it will do more to make me care less about sports than any other single event in my 39 years of existence. To me, that action would be screaming "payback" for things we'll never fully understand. To go against a legend's last wishes? An entire city? An entire Nation? If these people had nothing else, I still wouldn't understand but it would be easier to take.....but they are all L-O-A-D-E-D already from all of their other endeavors. Am I seeing this wrong? Do I have the facts right? The Chief goofed up by believing it would never come to this. He could have given Dan 51% of the team, but he thought he didn't have to. I would not want to be the first Rooney brother not named Dan to croak. I would not want to face an angry Chief.
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2 comments:
You are right on all accounts. I've worked this through in my head a number of times and came to the same conclusion.
In trying to rationalize the brothers point of view I put forth the idea that they either think the NFL is nearing it's peak in value or, as you say, a single person would not want to purchase only their 44% of the team at a premium price.
I can't blame them. But if it were me, I'd sell my 5% and get some cash up front an keep my 11% and the profits it generates for years to come just in case the NFL does continue it meteorical rise in value.
What cracks me up is that this whole deal is being mandated by the NFL. The Rooneys have extensive holdings in racetracks and related industries, which means gambling. The NFL needs them to liquidate their assests related to gambling. If Dan has any interest in the racetracks et. al, couldn't he relinquish that to the brothers in exchange for some consideration in the Steelers? Maybe his racetrack holdings are small anyway and insignificant? I don't know. Maybe the racetrack income is more lucrative than the Steelers? Does anybody know?
I have taken the approach that I ain't gonna worry about a thing, 'cause nothing's gonna be OK. Can't worry about a bunch of rich men arguing over a football team. I have already lost 90% of my faith in all sports anyway and the Steelers are the last 10% I have faith in.
And while I'm on my sports soapbox, SCREW THE OLYMPICS too. What a crock of shit the China Olympics will be. Propaganda on parade by all the nations of the world, especially the host country. I'm going to say the last true Olympics were held in 1968. Screw that shit. If you want to watch true sportsmanship the Special Olympics is what you should be watching. And even in that I'm sure there's cheating by people trying to qualify as being retarded enough to compete even though they have very little disability.
I almost never watch ESPN anymore. Sports as a money grab just doesn't entertain me.
This whole thing makes me sick - to the point where I have fingers in my ears going 'la la la' because I don't even want to hear about it.
Maybe Mario can help?
Mario, Mario! Where fore art thou Mario?
I second the Olympics Suck idea.
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