The investment group led by Islanders co-Owner Howard
Milstein and MD business exec Daniel Snyder "has offered the
estate of Jack Kent Cooke more than $700 million in cash"
for the Redskins and Jack Kent Cooke Stadium, according to
sources of Thomas Heath of the WASHINGTON POST. The bid,
which is binding contract with no financial contingencies,
"ups the ante significantly in the race to purchase the
Redskins, who until now had drawn offers" of around $600M.
Milstein and Snyder, who made the offer good "only" for one
week, "are making a preemptive effort to close a deal with
[the] Cooke estate while trying to discourage others from
staying in the chase for the franchise." The size of the
Milstein-Snyder bid "surprised" NFL observers, who were
"disappointed" when Milstein didn't bid more than $450M for
the Browns. The deal, which would be the most ever paid for
a U.S. sports franchise and its stadium, "would allow" the
group to pay off the $150-200M stadium debt. The Cooke
estate would then be left with around $500M to fund a
foundation in the name of Cooke (WASHINGTON POST, 12/17).
