Tomorrow is the "deadline for the second, and final,
round of offers to purchase" the Redskins and Jack Kent
Cooke Stadium, according to Thomas Heath of the WASHINGTON
POST. Each bidder still interested will submit a "binding
contract" to Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the investment
banking firm that is handling the sale for the estate of
late owner Jack Kent Cooke. The "offer to beat" thus far is
the $700M bid from Islanders co-Owner Howard Milstein and MD
business exec Daniel Snyder. Other contenders include:
Redskins President John Kent Cooke; AZ business exec Sam
Grossman, whose group includes former Redskins coach Joe
Gibbs; TX investor David Bonderman, who is partnered with
"real estate patriarch" Ted Lerner; and the group that
includes Devils Owner John McMullen and Cablevision Chair
Charles Dolan. Others "expected to submit bids" are Orioles
Owner Peter Angelos, TV producers Ben and Tony Scotti and
former Eagles Owner Jerry Wolman (WASHINGTON POST, 12/21).
IS COOKE COOKED? In Washington, Albert Crenshaw wrote
that "tax experts and even some other professional sports
team owners are watching" the bid process "intently with
both awe and dismay. They are awed at John Cooke's efforts
to accomplish this Herculean task ... and they are dismayed
that his father would have left him in such a situation."
These tax experts and owners say that "it is possible to
conclude that the senior Cooke either did not want his son
to have the team ... or intended to create a sort of trial
by fire in which John Cooke could have the team only if he
proved his mettle as a businessman" (WASH. POST, 12/19).
DOMINO EFFECT? In N.Y., Luke Cyphers wrote that the
outcome of the sale "could change the face of" N.Y. hockey,
since NFL "bylaws prevent ownership of another sports team
in a different market." Cyphers wrote that the issue "may
affect" the Devils' McMullen and Isles' Milstein, but Dolan
is "submitting his bid independently of" Cablevision, which
owns the Knicks and NHL Rangers (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/19).
