Steelers are still for sale

One of the quieter stories, nationally, of the NFL season so far has been the possible sale of the Steelers to billionaire Stanley Druckenmiller. The Rooneys have owned the team for over 60 years and are one of the most-respected owners in the league and the league clearly wants to keep the Rooneys as owners. If this will happen or not remains to be seen, one thing is for sure, if it appears the commissioners office is giving preferential treatment to the Rooneys, the 31 other billionaires will make an issue of it.

From the Pittsburgh Gazette:
After seven months of negotiations, billionaire Stanley Freeman Druckenmiller on Thursday ended his bid to buy the Pittsburgh Steelers.
His withdrawal from negotiations followed a 4:30 p.m. meeting in Pittsburgh of four of the five sons of franchise founder Art Rooney Sr. They balked at Druckenmiller's cash tender -- reputed to hover near $800 million for a majority stake in the club -- and now the team is on the block awaiting a higher bid.
Wall Street investment banks have pegged the value of the Steelers at $700 million to $1.2An offer from eldest brother Steelers Chairman Dan Rooney and his son, President Art Rooney II, to buy out the other brothers -- Art Jr., Timothy, Patrick and John -- apparently remains on the table. The brothers either declined comment or did not return messages seeking comment last night.
"I only wanted to be a solution, never a distraction," said Druckenmiller, a hedge fund genius and philanthropist who 33 years ago took a job with Pittsburgh National Bank -- today's PNC -- after a brief stay in the University of Michigan's graduate program for advanced economics.
At Pittsburgh National, he researched stocks before founding his own firm, Duquesne Capital, in 1981. He has lived in New York since 1985.
Druckenmiller, 55, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that his quest to own the team that has won five Super Bowls was motivated by a deep civic pride in the city that shaped him and continues to form his values.
"I love Pittsburgh. I love blue collar people and I miss them. That was the city that gave me my first chance. All the relationships I built then helped to make me what I am today. And the relationship Pittsburgh has to the Steelers is like no other city in the NFL.
"Through the hard times, Pittsburgh has always followed the Steelers. The success of the team mattered, and it's been a successful team largely because of Dan Rooney. The respect I have for him is really, well, beyond respect."
Druckenmiller had long pledged to keep both Hall of Famer Dan Rooney and his son, Art II, at the helm of the Steelers, insisting that the best way to ensure a winning team was with football minds who had proved their mettle on the gridiron.
Like his four brothers, Dan Rooney, 76, owns a 16 percent cut of the franchise. Their cousins, the McGinley clan, own the remaining 20 percent, with half of their stake controlled by Rita McGinley, who refuses to sell.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been prodding the Rooneys either to sell the team or to divest from their increasingly lucrative casino gambling operations at their racing tracks in New York and Florida.
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, however, told the Trib yesterday that the commissioner had "set no deadlines for when they have to restructure" their gambling and football empire.
The Rooney brothers also have told the Trib they're concerned about looming estate taxes that could gobble half the legacy they hope to leave to their large brood of children and grandchildren.
In a prepared statement, Druckenmiller acknowledged the "great concern" the Rooney family had about taxes and the NFL mandate, but conceded it had "become clear that the Rooneys need substantial additional time to assess their options. I do not wish to complicate these efforts, and I also do not want the lingering uncertainty about my possible involvement to become a distraction to my business and my family.
"For these reasons, I have removed myself from the process. On a personal note, having spent time with all five Rooney brothers, I have come to hold them all in high regard, and it is easy to see why the organization has been so successful. Given my love for Pittsburgh and what I know the team means to the city, I wish them all the same success they have had in the past."
He signed off with a cheer: "Go Steelers!"
The McGinley cousins and their aunt Rita weren't at yesterday's meeting. Their shares don't have the same voting rights as those belonging to Art Rooney Sr.'s sons, and the McGinleys continue to downplay suggestions that they would be willing to sell.
"I really think we have made it pretty clear that we're not sellers, and we have nothing but the highest respect for Mr. Druckenmiller," said John R. McGinley Jr., a partner at the Downtown law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellot.
"But there are a lot of moving pieces to this deal. What we've talked about is, 'Let's just wait and see what happens.' The Rooneys have a lot of decisions to make first. Our family has been part of this football team for 65 years, so we can wait a little to see where everything ends up." billion, but that was before a financial meltdown burned billionaires' portfolios worldwide.