NFL owners yesterday “voted unanimously to approve the transfer of ownership of the Jaguars from Wayne Weaver,” and Commissioner Roger Goodell introduced Shahid Khan “as the confirmed owner,” according to Tania Ganguli of the FLORIDA TIMES-UNION. The vote was the first item on the agenda at the owner's meeting yesterday, and "they clapped for him as he re-entered the room, finally part of their exclusive club.” Khan said to Weaver as he began his press conference, “Thank you very much and thank you for trusting us with the legacy of Jacksonville.” Ganguli notes Khan “bought the team for $760 million,” and he becomes the NFL’s “first minority owner.” The terms of the sale “do not prohibit Khan from moving the team, but include a provision that would make it cost prohibitive to move the franchise in the first three years after the sale.” Khan yesterday emphasized that is “essentially a moot point,” as moving “isn’t in his plans.” Khan: “Time is going to show that I am committed to Jacksonville.” Ganguli reports the rest of the owners “didn’t have questions about Khan at the start of their meeting, discussion wasn’t needed as most of them had made up their minds even before it began.” Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones: “He without question comes in as one of our most financially qualified owners” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 12/15). Weaver said, “It is an emotional day. ... It’s hard to break away, but it’s the right time.” While other owners, who “have been his peers for the past 18 years, expressed confidence in Khan’s ability to take over the franchise successfully, their enthusiasm [is] combined with a bit of sadness at saying goodbye to a man they’d grown to like and respect.” Jones said of Weaver, “I respect him as much as I ever have anybody I’ve known in the National Football League” (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 12/15).
NEW WAY OF DOING BUSINESS? The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Matthew Futterman noted the Jaguars sale was “a rare event for the sports industry -- a franchise sale that took place without either side using a financial adviser.” NFL execs are “hoping it’s the beginning of a trend and have set up something of a transaction consulting operation” led by NFL Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman, a former Goldman Sachs banker. Under a new process that Grubman is “hoping others will utilize, potential buyers introduce themselves to the league and spend a period of time proving they have the financial wherewithal to buy a team and don’t have any skeletons in their closets.” If “all goes well, then they can wait for the right opportunity to arise, and if it does negotiate a sale with a motivated seller without taking part in a public auction.” Grubman said, “Our goal is to have the legal information and a process to facilitate a sale and create an orderly transaction” (WSJ.com, 12/14).
