Trustees for the estate of Jack Kent Cooke "will appear
before" the NFL's finance committee today "to explain" how
Islanders co-Owner Howard Milstein and MD business exec
Daniel Snyder "won an auction" to purchase the Redskins and
Jack Kent Cooke Stadium over team President John Kent Cooke,
according to Thomas Heath of the WASHINGTON POST. Although
sources have said that the committee "is leaning toward
approval" of the Milstein-Snyder $800M bid, the estate's
attorneys and financial advisors "are expected to undergo
pointed questioning" over the bid. Once deductions for
financial and legal issues are figured into the price, the
Milstein-Snyder bid is worth about $755M, compared to
Cooke's bid of $680M. The Finance Committee also "is
expected to decide on the soundness of the Milstein-Snyder
financing and their personal wealth outside the team."
Sources say that Cooke's bid "exceeded the NFL's limit on
the amount of debt that can be borrowed against the team,"
though the league may be willing to "overlook" those factors
to let Cooke continue in bidding (WASHINGTON POST, 1/28).
COOKE BURNT? In DC, Rudolph Pyatt writes "there are
conflicting reports about Cooke's final bid" and asks
whether his investment group "was in a position to match"
the $800M goal set by the trustees (WASHINGTON POST, 1/28).
Finance Committee Chair Robert Kraft: "A number of owners
want to be sure John Cooke gets a fair shake. There is a
pro-John Cooke sentiment, especially among the older owners"
(USA TODAY, 1/28). In DC, Rick Snider writes that one
reason NFL owners "are concerned" about the Milstein-Snyder
bid is that they "may test the league's advertising
contracts by dealing with competitors for stadium deals"
like Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones. Owners are also reportedly
concerned that the "wealth" of the two "would give them a
financial edge over many" owners (WASHINGTON TIMES, 1/28).
