Art Rooney JR says that

[NKySteeler]

Re: Art Rooney JR says that

While I understand each brothers' need for "estate planning", I can't help but think one of the most solid investments for thier "children and grandchildren" would be part ownership of this team. It's a viable source of income and a solid product. I actually do agree with the one fan that said "it's all about greed"...

[SteelerOfDeVille]

Re: Art Rooney JR says that

cool - then, they could fire Tomlin, who was only hired because of the rooney rule, anyway.

[NKySteeler]

Re: Art Rooney JR says that

With this topic resurfacing again, here was the article posted in the Steelers Digest that just came out...
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Many facets to ownership issue
Bob Labriola, a Pittsburgh native, has been editor of Steelers Digest since its inception in 1988. This page offers him an opportunity to provide additional insights into the Steelers, the NFL and the events that are making news.

In the NFL at least, the fireworks didn’t come until after the Fourth of July.

At a time of the year when most NFL team offices are deserted, when players, coaches and staff are taking the last of their vacations in the runup to training camp, two events came to light that sent shock waves through the industry. Somebody owning the Pittsburgh Steelers other than a Rooney. Brett Favre in a jersey other than the Green Bay Packers.

The two events are totally unrelated in every way except for one: both were big news.

Pittsburgh, naturally, was the hub of the Steelers story, and that will be the subject of this essay. The story broke on Monday, July 7 when the team released a statement on its website.

“For the past two years the Rooney family has had discussions about a restructuring of the family’s ownership of the Steelers in order to ensure compliance with NFL ownership policies and the continuation of Rooney family ownership and operation of the team,” is how the statement began, and it also included these words from Dan Rooney.

“I have spent my entire life devoted to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football League. I will do everything possible to work out a solution to ensure my father’s legacy of keeping the Steelers in the Rooney family and in Pittsburgh for at least another 75 years.”

The Steelers were founded in 1933 by Art Rooney Sr., whose five sons inherited equal shares in the team when he died in 1988. That meant a 16 percent ownership stake for each of the five sons — Dan, Art Jr., Tim, John and Pat — with the other 20 percent owned by Jack McGinley Sr. and his sister, Rita McGinley.

That arrangement maintained the stability of the franchise, but some two decades later a set of circumstances all came together to set in motion the events that just recently became public.

The NFL has a rule that in a family ownership situation, one individual must own at least 20 percent of the team, with one family having to own a minimum of 30 percent; the league also has regulations about owners being involved in casino gambling, and once slot machines and poker tables were added to the Rooney family’s race tracks in Yonkers, N.Y., and Palm Beach, Fla., those facilities no longer were in compliance; and each of the brothers is at an age when estate matters become issues that require attention.

Quickly, Stanley Druckenmiller’s name surfaced as an interested party. Druckenmiller, 55, owns Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Capital Management LLC and lives in New York, where as a hedge fund manager he has made a reported fortune of $3.5 billion on Wall Street. Various reports indicated that Druckenmiller was interested in purchasing shares of the team from Dan Rooney’s four brothers and also possibly from the McGinley family, and media speculation was rampant as to how much he wanted to buy, how the team would be managed if such a sale took place, and when the deal would be done. The NFL had placed no deadline on the restructuring of the team’s ownership, and so the predictions that Druckenmiller would own a controlling share of the Steelers franchise in a matter of days proved false.

During those early days of media coverage, a portrait of Druckenmiller emerged as a face-painting, die-hard Steelers fan who preferred to sit in the stands than in the luxury suite he certainly could afford. A long-time season-ticket holder who rarely misses a game and hosts a tailgate party at Heinz Field, Druckenmiller was said to become “morose” after the Steelers lost. Those early glimpses of Druckenmiller also included his promise to keep the team in Pittsburgh and his desire to continue to have Dan Rooney and current Steelers president Art Rooney II run the team on a day-today basis.

It seemed incongruous that a selfmade billionaire reportedly willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to buy controlling interest in an NFL franchise would then sit idly by while it was run by others, and a recent report on Bloomberg.com revealed that Druckenmiller had other ideas.

“Stanley Druckenmiller would insist on controlling the finances of the Pittsburgh Steelers,” wrote Curtis Eichelberger. “Druckenmiller, who founded his firm in Pittsburgh and is a Steelers fan, would allow (Dan) Rooney to attend National Football League meetings, vote on league issues such as rules changes and manage the club, while maintaining veto power.”

The NFL is sensitive to the Rooney ownership issues, it wants Dan and Art II to continue to run the franchise, and it doesn’t want the team to incur more than a manageable debt. Any sale of the Steelers would be subject to approval of 24 of the NFL’s 32 owners.

Talks continue, and the optimistic view of the situation would be one where the Rooneys maintain controlling interest in the team and that Dan and Art II continue to run it, because it was Dan Rooney who hired Chuck Noll and set the course for the success on the field, and it was Art Rooney II who was behind the deal to build Heinz Field, which precipitated the significant increase in the value of the franchise.

It’s not going to be simple to come up with a deal allowing all of that, but there is a genuine interest among the brothers to preserve their father’s legacy of Rooney family control of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Considering the fact it was under Rooney control that the Steelers became a winner on the field and as a business, it would be a shame if that was not allowed to continue.

[LasVegasGuy]

Re: Art Rooney JR says that

While I understand each brothers' need for "estate planning", I can't help but think one of the most solid investments for thier "children and grandchildren" would be part ownership of this team. It's a viable source of income and a solid product. I actually do agree with the one fan that said "it's all about greed"...

We all have heard the old saying "too many chiefs and not enough indians". Can you imagine the mess when these brothers start dying off and for every one of their deaths we inherit 7 or more owners. When it's all said and done there will be 35 Rooney's running the team which will present a new set of problems. It may be time to let go of the reigns and bring in some new blood. It is going to be weird not having the Rooneys around or coming up with great ideas for black assistant coaches but all good things must eventually come to an end.

[NKySteeler]

Re: Art Rooney JR says that

We all have heard the old saying "too many chiefs and not enough indians". Can you imagine the mess when these brothers start dying off and for every one of their deaths we inherit 7 or more owners. When it's all said and done there will be 35 Rooney's running the team which will present a new set of problems. It may be time to let go of the reigns and bring in some new blood. It is going to be weird not having the Rooneys around or coming up with great ideas for black assistant coaches but all good things must eventually come to an end.

I respectfully disagree with you LVG... Who said anything about 7 participants for every brother? Yes, it would be passed down, but in proportional sizes and less greedy fucking weight as it is now...

Dan Rooney helped form the idea of the tv contract we have now...

Dan Rooney helped form the AFC as we view it now...

Dan Rooney (and his father) were the first to acknowledge the players' union...

... There is no reason to believe that the family would not continue the tradition.... You are going for an "unknown entity" whereas this is a "known commodity" that has done pretty damn well over the years... Guess the winning record over the years doesn't mean too much... You may not like the "Rooney rule", but look at everything else this man and family have brought to the league before you start bashing them.... Read up on it, and it may possibly change your opinion.

I guess we have to agree to disagree on this subject..... And that's fine. That's what this place is all about...

...God help us, we'll probably have fucking cheerleaders soon.... So much for tradition, and bring on commercialization...

Sorry, But I have no problems/issues with the current system whatsoever. This system is what has made most of us fans. ... Don't change it if it ain't broke... And it's not.
(except for the greedy brothers that want thier $$$... I'm just a lowly fan, so obviously it doesn't matter)

[LasVegasGuy]

Re: Art Rooney JR says that

We all have heard the old saying "too many chiefs and not enough indians". Can you imagine the mess when these brothers start dying off and for every one of their deaths we inherit 7 or more owners. When it's all said and done there will be 35 Rooney's running the team which will present a new set of problems. It may be time to let go of the reigns and bring in some new blood. It is going to be weird not having the Rooneys around or coming up with great ideas for black assistant coaches but all good things must eventually come to an end.

I respectfully disagree with you LVG... Who said anything about 7 participants for every brother? Yes, it would be passed down, but in proportional sizes and less greedy fucking weight as it is now...

Dan Rooney helped form the idea of the tv contract we have now...

Dan Rooney helped form the AFC as we view it now...

Dan Rooney (and his father) were the first to acknowledge the players' union...

... There is no reason to believe that the family would not continue the tradition.... You are going for an "unknown entity" whereas this is a "known commodity" that has done pretty damn well over the years... Guess the winning record over the years doesn't mean too much... You may not like the "Rooney rule", but look at everything else this man and family have brought to the league before you start bashing them.... Read up on it, and it may possibly change your opinion.

I guess we have to agree to disagree on this subject..... And that's fine. That's what this place is all about...

...God help us, we'll probably have fucking cheerleaders soon.... So much for tradition, and bring on commercialization...

Sorry, But I have no problems/issues with the current system whatsoever. This system is what has made most of us fans. ... Don't change it if it ain't broke... And it's not.
(except for the greedy brothers that want thier $$$... I'm just a lowly fan, so obviously it doesn't matter)

I was just throwing a number out there I really don't know how many siblings or grandchildren each brother has. I'm just trying to say that for 1 owner with 20% we may inherit 4 new owners with 5%.

I don't see the brothers as being greedy at all. I see them trying to do the right thing for their families even if it means selling the one thing they love. Just as Art Sr. was looking out for his kids they are looking out for theirs. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion even if it means new owners for the Steelers.

[frankthetank1]

Re: Art Rooney JR says that

I take back my comments after watching that vid. he looks pretty down about the whole thing. My family has gone through the same thing, granted at a much smaller scale, so I understand completely about taking care of your own.

He didn't seem all that down to me. I think the word I would use is "resigned."

It sucks that this all comes down to money... But doesn't everything, eventually?

Everything does seem to come down to money...better estate planning would've helped. Does Dan and Art II own any stock in the race tracks? I'm curious.

im almost positive that they do not. this is such horse sh$$. to think the rooneys might not own majority of the steelers is just awful. eff the nfl, its a stupid stupid rule and they should make an exception seeing that this rule hasnt always been in affect and some of the rooneys have owned a dog track for a long time now. i gotta read that book, ive heard its excellent