Bengals President Mike Brown secured his family's
"biggest victory in 51 years" of pro football when a federal
judge ruled Tuesday the heirs of the late Paul Brown are not
liable for an estate tax deficiency of more than $40M,
according to Geoff Hobson of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. U.S.
Tax Court Judge John Colvin refuted the IRS's principle
charge revolving around an '83 stock option transaction
between Bengals founder Paul Brown and major shareholder
John Sawyer. The IRS said that it "was a sham" designed to
pass majority ownership of the team to Brown's sons and
elude estate taxes. A "visibly relieved" Mike Brown
admitted yesterday that he may have had to sell the team if
the ruling had gone against him. Brown: "It's difficult to
see how we could have worked our way through it." The U.S.
solicitor general has 90 days to decide whether the
government wants to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4/30).
STADIUM DEADLINE: Also in Cincinnati, Hobson & May note
that Brown said yesterday that he wants a stadium lease
signed with Hamilton County before the May 20-21 NFL Owners
meeting in San Diego. Brown: "We want the lease done before
then. We want it approved at that meeting." The county's
absolute deadline is June 1 when the county must have a
lease signed with either the Bengals or Reds. If it doesn't
meet that deadline, the half-cent sales tax increase passed
to fund the construction of the teams' two new stadiums will
be "rolled back" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4/30).
