The resignation of Bill Parcells as coach of the Jets
yesterday to become the team's Dir of Football Operations is
"raising some questions about the value" of the franchise
just as it is about to be sold, according to Sam Walker of
the WALL STREET JOURNAL. But Walker writes that "with the
heated bidding for the team so far along, the resignation
isn't likely to significantly affect the final sale price."
Sources say that Johnson & Johnson heir Robert Wood Johnson
IV and Cablevision Chair Charles Dolan remain the two
finalists for the team and a "winner could be announced as
early as this week, with the purchase price slightly above"
$600M. A person within the Jets organization said that
Parcells' resignation will have "zero affect" on the bidding
process for the team and "more of an issue for bidders could
be" how the Jets handle Parcells' six-year contract, "which
could be valued at as much as" $3M per year. That deal,
along with the salary of new coach Bill Belichick, "makes
the Jets one of the league's biggest spenders on coaching."
However, Legg Mason Sports Managing Dir John Moag said it's
"naive to underestimate the value of a coach like Parcells"
and that the resignation "definitely translates to the
bottom line" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/4). In N.Y., Richard
Sandomir writes that the issue of Parcells possibly
resigning after this season "was accepted several months
ago" by Jets bidders, "making it unlikely that Parcells'
resignation ... would throw the bidding into disarray."
Sandomir notes that Dolan "is believed to have bid" $615M
for the team, while Johnson is "expected to make a revised
offer," possibly by the end of the week (N.Y. TIMES, 1/4).
EYES ON CABLEVISION: In N.Y., Richard Wilner reports
that the NFL is "demanding barriers between Dolan's
corporate cash and personal fortune" and "insisting on some
media-sensitive protections" against Cablevision. A source
close to the negotiations: "Cablevision has some media
partners, those that would, perhaps, like to own NFL rights
and those that already do, so the NFL is looking for ways to
deal with that." NBC owns 25% of Cablevision's Rainbow
Media business, and Fox is a partner with Cablevision on Fox
Sports Net and MSG and its teams (N.Y. POST, 1/3). "The NFL
Today" sports news ticker Sunday reported that Browns Owner
Al Lerner "has phoned fellow owners to lobby them against"
Dolan. Lerner "tried to inform his peers about potential
conflicts of interest if Dolan wins ownership" (CBS, 1/2).
