Today's self-imposed deadline for the estate of the
late Jets Owner Leon Hess to select between Cablevision
Chair Charles Dolan and Johnson & Johnson heir Robert Wood
Johnson IV as the team's new owner "could be extended until
tomorrow," before the five estate executors present their
deal to the NFL's Finance Committee, according to Richard
Wilner of the N.Y. POST. Wilner writes that the Hess estate
"will opt for the bid that is the easiest to gain approval"
from the league's owners, meaning Dolan "would have to put
some meaningful space between his bid and Johnson's" (N.Y.
POST, 1/10). Giants co-Owner Robert Tisch, on the bidding
war: "It's neck and neck." But Wilner noted that Dolan now
faces a "substantial block" of NFL team owners, led by the
Browns' Al Lerner. Sources say that Lerner "is out to sink
the Dolan bid" because Ravens Owner Art Modell "supports"
Dolan. Eight votes are needed to veto the sale of a team
(N.Y. POST, 1/8). A source close to the Jets said, "I think
the Jets are working really hard to get Johnson in there.
The league wants Johnson over Dolan" (Bergen RECORD, 1/10).
In N.Y., Richard Sandomir wrote that the bidding "is not
over" and the auction window at Goldman Sachs "is still
open" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/8). ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported
that the Jets ownership situation should be resolved in the
next 24 hours, as the process has "been expedited because of
their unstable situation with the head coach" (ESPN, 1/9).
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Managing Dir Eric Grubman, who is
overseeing the sale, "refuted" reports that the process "has
been dragged out." Grubman, on the lengthy sale process:
"Two things happened. There was more than one strong bidder
in the hunt. And the Hess family consistently instructed us
to run the process without interfering with the team.
[Coach] Bill Parcells pulled the team together, they were
winning, and the last thing they needed was the distraction
of dealing with a new owner" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 1/8).
