Prospective Redskins Owner Howard Milstein "apparently
must win the support of three to five team owners" before
the NFL reconsiders his $800M purchase of the team and Jack
Kent Cooke Stadium, according to Maske, Heath & Shapiro of
the WASHINGTON POST. Sources familiar with the negotiations
said the league has scheduled the owners' vote on the sale
for April 7 in Atlanta, and Milstein "has begun scheduling
appointments with owners as part of a three-week effort to
secure the necessary support." In their effort to win over
the owners, members of the Milstein-Daniel Snyder group also
"plan to restructure the financing of the deal to try to
make it easier to grasp." Said one owner: "If they work it
right, they can still get it. They have to make it (the
financing plan) so that these guys can really understand it"
(WASHINGTON POST, 3/19). Also in DC, Fisher & Snider report
that NFL sources said an informal poll among the owners
taken Wednesday showed 13 teams against the sale, 11
undecided, six in favor and one abstention. The sale needs
24 votes to be approved. The six teams that "firmly planned
to approve the sale" are the Cowboys, Ravens, Patriots,
Eagles, Buccaneers and Redskins. Fisher & Snider also
report that a division between Milstein and Snyder that
began several weeks ago "intensified during this week's NFL
meetings in Phoenix," and it "could further complicate the
troubled deal." Sources close to Snyder have said that he
"is taking a hands-off position" while Milstein refinances
his share of the bid (WASHINGTON TIMES, 3/19).
