NY-based Goldman Sachs has been retained by the NFL to
handle the bidding for the expansion Browns, according to
Will McDonough of the BOSTON GLOBE. Goldman Sachs will seek
initial offers from the list of bidders, and then "will take
the highest bid and revisit the rest of the field, one by
one, seeking who wants to top it and dropping those who
don't. It will go back and forth with 'managed bids' until
there is just one left -- the new owner." McDonough adds
that some think that Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner
"could sell his baseball team once he sees what the Browns
are worth" (Will McDonough, BOSTON GLOBE, 7/25).
NFL POLICY: NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue disputes
the perception that the Al Lerner-Carmen Policy group is the
frontrunner to land the Browns: "The idea that all of a
sudden someone has jumped way out in front in Cleveland is
wrong. Carmen is an outstanding football man and we have
tremendous respect for the Mayor [Michael White.] But the
decision of which ownership group goes to Cleveland is the
decision of the N.F.L." (Mike Freeman, N.Y. TIMES, 7/26).
But in Hartford, Don Amore wrote, "Think the NFL is gung-ho
about the prospect of having ... Carmen Policy as part of
the ownership group in Cleveland? The league's web site,
NFL.COM, made Policy's move the lead item Saturday"
(HARTFORD COURANT, 7/26). In Akron, columnist Terry Pluto
wrote, "This is what the NFL wanted, at least four mega-
groups out to own the Browns" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 7/26).
IS ART HOPPING MAD? In Cleveland, Tony Grossi reported
that "according to several insiders," Ravens Owner Art
Modell "is seething. Not only about the possibility that
[former Browns/Ravens part Owner Al] Lerner could wind up
with the new Browns, but also about Lerner's insistence that
he played no role in moving the Browns other than to help
his former friend in need." Modell's spokesperson could not
be reached for comment (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 7/26).
