Colts President Jim Irsay said yesterday he does not foresee
his team selling the name "Colts" to Baltimore NFL Owner Art
Modell, according to Vito Stellino of the Baltimore SUN. Irsay
said his "gut feeling" is that it would not happen, but he added
that "you always listen" to any offers. Irsay said the "only
reason" to listen to Modell's offer is the likely estate tax
problems he would face when his father, Owner Robert Irsay who
recently suffered a debilitating stroke, dies. Jimmy Irsay said
he is working on keeping the team in the family, but "there's
only so much debt you can service and still be competitive."
Irsay hinted he didn't have a figure in mind, but floated $25M as
not unrealistic. Irsay: "I don't know if there's a firm out
there that would say what's a fair market value." He did confirm
that NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue had asked if the Irsays
would be willing to give up the "Colts" name to Modell. Modell
said he plans further talks with Irsay this week (Baltimore SUN,
3/12).
NAME GAME: In Baltimore, Jon Morgan writes on the process
of obtaining a new name through NFL Properties and the current
challenges a team faces. Bruce Burke, VP/ Creative Director at
NFLP: "We're running out of names." Burke said recently "human
names -- such as Patriots -- have been difficult for designers,
which is one reason why animals have been a popular subject for
new names. "Marauders" is said to have "won favor" among some on
the team as a fallback to "Bombers" (Baltimore SUN, 3/12).
