49ers co-Owner Eddie DeBartolo has reached a tentative
agreement to buy out his sister, Denise DeBartolo York, and
regain control of the team, according to Michael Silver of
Sports Illustrated. CNN/SI aired Silver's report and also
posted it on its Web site. The deal, "expected to be
finalized by the middle of the week, would allow" DeBartolo
to remove team President Carmen Policy. Bill Walsh and Joe
Montana would each "assume roles" with the team -- Walsh as
a team exec and Montana "as a minority owner with front-
office responsibilities." Neither DeBartolo nor his sister
would comment, but a source told Silver that both are
"convinced that Policy betrayed them by assembling a group
of investors to purchase the team with him as the group's
managing partner." DeBartolo still faces possible
indictment over his role in obtaining a casino gaming
license in LA (CNN/SI, 4/1). Policy was quoted on Monday:
"It's almost as though I don't fit into Eddie's scheme of
things." In Oakland, Carl Steward wrote if Policy leaves,
"you might as well say goodbye to the 49ers as you know
them," as the team would face an "imminent grim demise"
(OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 3/31). Policy, on DeBartolo York: "If
[she] had her way, she would love to see her brother wind up
with the team. And I think she will try to do whatever she
can to accommodate that" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 3/31).
ACROSS THE BAY: S.F. Mayor Willie Brown said yesterday
that the city "might propose" that the 2003 Super Bowl move
from S.F. to the Oakland Coliseum, and Edward Epstein wrote,
"While the mayor adamantly denied the stadium deal is in
trouble, his idea about moving the Super Bowl for the first
time suggested otherwise." Brown: "I want the Super Bowl as
much, if not more, than the stadium" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/1).
Also in S.F., Matier & Ross dismiss Brown's bid to take the
game to Oakland because of a "seating problem" and the
"matter of Raiders owner Al Davis." One NFL source, noting
the current legal dispute between Davis and the league said,
"They're not going to a stadium where the home team is suing
the league" (Matier & Ross, S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/1).
NO LOVE LOST? Matier & Ross also report that the "rift"
between DeBartolo and Policy "has been brewing for years."
Those "in the know" say it first manifested back in '95,
when Eddie "bucked advice from Policy and launched his own
DeBartolo Entertainment Corp., diving head-first into the
tricky world of casino gambling" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 4/1).
DEBARTOLO ATTORNEY INDICTED: DeBartolo's business
attorney Steven Kay "has been ordered to appear before a
federal grand jury probing gambling corruption" in LA. In
S.F., Finnie & Lewis wrote the "development means the long-
running federal probe, which has sidelined the 49ers' plans
for a new stadium and thrown into question the team's future
ownership, is still steaming ahead" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/31).
