No real “news” surfaced in the Steelers ownership restructuring last week, but a comment by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s Ed Bouchette did suggest an interesting wrinkle.
When asked during his weekly Steelers chat about the status of the restructuring process, Bouchette offered this:
I think it’s status quo for awhile, unless one of the brothers decides to take Dan’s offer, which would give him 30 percent. Then the NFL would have to deal with the other brothers’ casino interests.
Bouchette cites no sources, but this is the first time anyone has suggested that a partial buyout is a potential possibility.*
If a partial buyout possibility is viable, then Dan Rooney’s road to gaining controlling interest could be eased greatly because it greatly reduce the sum of money that he and Art II second need to produce or borrow. It would also give Dan and Art II more time and flexibility in finding minority partners and/or give the other Rooney brothers time shop their shares.
A potential Catch-22 to the situation is that Art. Jr. and John are the brothers who are most disposed to accept Dan’s offer. The paradox is that Art Jr. and John still retain their seats on the team’s board of directors, and both have been rumored to be interested in maintaining some sort of ownership stake and/or role with the team….
Steel Curtain Rising has been aggressively following the sale/ownership restructuring of the Steelers since the news broke in July. To read the entire series of posts, click here.
*When news of the restructuring first broke in July, it was first suggested that Stanley Druckenmiller was seeking to buy out the shares of Tim, Pat, and John Rooney. Later, through an intermediary, Druckenmiller insisted that he had no interest in becoming a minority stakeholder, and Art Rooney Jr. confirmed that he too was part of the potential buyout.)
