Ownership Info from Darin Gantt

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

47 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

A recent radio interview with Darin Gantt; lots of discussion up front about the ownership issue.

WRAL Interview with Joe Ovies and Lauren Brownlow

 

Highlights:

- The League appears to be pressuring Jerry Richardson to choose David Tepper even if he's not the high bidder

- Owners, including a specifically mentioned Bob Kraft, favor Tepper over all other candidates

- The whole "Tepper Out / Tepper In" thing may have been the league "playing poker" as a way to nudge Richardson

- Over the past few months, Richardson has been known to be notably unhappy about the sale process

- On that front, Richardson has reportedly said to people around him "I don't have to sell this team" several times

- The league's reply to those statements is basically "Oh yes you do" (and yes, they can force him)

- Richardson's response: "Well, even if I have to sell it, I don't have to pick the guy you want me to choose"

- The League not only wants the sale to happen, but they also want it to happen as soon as possible

- The NFL currently views Jerry Richardson as a "problem that they need to get rid of" and they want him off the radar

- Gantt expects the league to issue a minor to moderate penalty quickly after the sale

- They're also hoping for a good sale price in the hope that it will set a precedent for future team sales

- Time wise, we can expect to know who "the guy" is well prior to the draft (final vote of course coming in late May)

- Neither Felix or any of the other local guys were ever a serious option; neither is the team being moved

- FYI: No mention of Alan Kestenbaum, I Am Number Four or anyone else in the course of the interview

 

Overall, pretty informative segment.

First impression: Really sounds like Jerry Richardson has gotten pretty bitter about the whole affair. 

Speculating off of Gantt's comments and past stories, I think Jerry truly believed that his "internal investigation" idea would be respected. The league declined.  He then likely thought that the league wouldn't proceed with the investigation if he agreed to sell the team.  That didn't pan out either. 

So basically, after he showed his ass, the NFL refused to cover it for him.

After decades of being a league loyalist, I gotta imagine that left Jerry pretty pissed off.

Now Richardson is "grumpy" about the process, and apparently saying things to annoy the NFL. It's never been a secret that the league favors Tepper, and maybe Richardson would have been fine with him too.  Jerry's admiration for the Steelers and Tepper's relationship with the Rooneys certainly would have been seen as positives.

Unfortunately for all his fans in league ownership, Tepper lowballed the bid.

Now Richardson likely views the NFL as pushing him to take less money so they can have their guy take over his team, and to be fair, he's right.  So Jerry is making noise that he's gonna do this his way and pick his guy.  There's an element of this that almost sounds like spite.  And while it might sound silly to let something as petty as spite factor into a billion dollar transaction, Jerry is still Jerry.

So yes, he's going to sell the team, but probably not to the successor that the NFL has anointed to take his throne.

Albert Breer pointed out a while back that the league was unhappy with the way the sale "drama" was playing out.  We speculated at the time that it was probably about Navarro being the front runner over Tepper.  Gantt's interview here both bears that out and fleshes it out a little, while also giving us an indication that the end of the saga is probably near.

Bottom Line: More evidence that unless David Tepper seriously increases his bid, the next owner of the Panthers is Ben Navarro.

Not a bad write-up but two weeks out of date. For anyone seeking more information, see my post in the other thread. Navarro has won. Tepper was first out. Leon Black is (really was) #4. No clue how Richardson feels about any of it.

[Woodie]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Newton said something that indicated the vetting of Navarro is pretty much completed.

And yeah, I think his "low key billionaire" piece is likely a pretty good sign that the league is coming to terms with Navarro owning the Panthers.

Gantt says we'll know before the Draft.  I've heard more than one person say we could know as early as next week.

Yeah, I get the feeling it's pretty much a done deal.  Sounds like the league may be putting a last push for Tepper before all the T's are crossed and I's are dotted, but assuming that fails, it will probably be awarded to Navarro.

[Mr. Scot]

12 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

There has to be some kind of hitch for it to have dragged on as long as it has.  That being said, I trust Darin as always accurate and well-sourced, always has been, but this info is kind of contrarian in itself...  if the league wants Tepper, but he isn't willing to budge much over 2B, but the league also wants the sale price as high as possible and Navarro has bid well over 2B already, then why would they want to sell to Tepper for reportedly 500M less?  Makes zero sense.

And honestly, after the stuff I've read, at this point, I'd be both disappointed and pissed off if Navarro doesn't become the new owner.  Our franchise and fanbase have been the NFL's bitch long enough, leave us the fug alone and GFYS billionaire boys club.  Let us pick the owner we want you assholes.

I think Woodie is probably right about what the "hitch" is. 

Albert Breer hinted at it a while back.

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

That said, yes, the puff piece on Navarro was essentially equivalent to the puff of black smoke from the papal conclave.

Heri sumus cum clavem clausa...non possunt cum responsum hodie. Habemus papam!

[Mr. Scot]

4 minutes ago, Woodie said:

Yeah, I get the feeling it's pretty much a done deal.  Sounds like the league may be putting a last push for Tepper before all the T's are crossed and I's are dotted, but assuming that fails, it will probably be awarded to Navarro.

It does feel like a "let us make one final offer" sort of situation.

There were always reasons to believe it was gonna be Navarro anyway (local ties, especially) but with the news now coming out that Navarro and Richardson have mutual friends, Navarro hiring a Jerry friendly PR firm and the profiles that have told us they have similar personas, I have a hard time imagining this ends any other way but with Navarro winning.

The league will certainly give it one last college try, but I think it's all for naught.

[Woodie]

4 minutes ago, rayzor said:

if the league wants him to own the team, regardless of his bid, what incentive would there be for him to stay active in the bidding. everyone can keep one upping each other even pushing 3bil while he sits there saying "i'm not going to go above 2.3bil" and still end up winning. playing that game makes me actually like him more. the league likes him, but he's still going to play by his rules.

The league still has to provide justification for denying Navarro the team.  They can't just say we want someone else, so we won't approve anyone different.  This is still JR's team, and he has full control to sell to whomever he wants.  The league has to approve it, but not will-nilly.  They would have to provide support why they are denying an owner several hundred million dollars that he has a right to.

Now, if a skeleton unexpectedly came out of Navarro's closet, then they might have justification, but other than that, it's unlikely they would deny him.  Not to mention, they wouldn't want to set the precedence in case  they ever want to sell to someone that is not the preferred buyer for more money.

[Woodie]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

It does feel like a "let us make one final offer" sort of situation.

There were always reasons to believe it was gonna be Navarro anyway (local ties, especially) but with the news now coming out that Navarro and Richardson have mutual friends, Navarro hiring a Jerry friendly PR firm and the profiles that have told us they have similar personas, I have a hard time imagining this ends any other way but with Navarro winning.

The league will certainly give it one last college try, but I think it's all for naught.

I think you're right.  Money was the only thing that could have kept Navarro from getting the team, but it sounds like that's not a problem.

[Mr. Scot]

3 minutes ago, Woodie said:

The league still has to provide justification for denying Navarro the team.  They can't just say we want someone else, so we won't approve anyone different.  This is still JR's team, and he has full control to sell to whomever he wants.  The league has to approve it, but not will-nilly.  They would have to provide support why they are denying an owner several hundred million dollars that he has a right to.

Now, if a skeleton unexpectedly came out of Navarro's closet, then they might have justification, but other than that, it's unlikely they would deny him.  Not to mention, they wouldn't want to set the precedence in case  they ever want to sell to someone that is not the preferred buyer for more money.

McNair speaking publicly in favor of Navarro is probably another sign they're getting to the "acceptance" stage of the mourning process.

[TheSpecialJuan]

14 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Newton said something that indicated the vetting of Navarro is pretty much completed.

And yeah, I think his "low key billionaire" piece is likely a pretty good sign that the league is coming to terms with Navarro owning the Panthers.

Gantt says we'll know before the Draft.  I've heard more than one person say we could know as early as next week.

We should know by this time next week. 

[Carl Spackler]

Hell will be raised if Navarro doesn't get the team. Granted, the NFL doesn't care when hell is raised. They just want what they want. I hate the "powers that be" in the Shield more than any sports league. They've got the money of the NBA with the integrity of the NCAA and the honesty of FIFA.

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

Not sure why grown men are still arguing in this thread about something which has been known for some time for anyone who cared to ask. Navarro is the owner. Tepper has been out since around the beginning of this month.

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

1 minute ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

We should know by this time next week. 

You can know right now if you pull your head up out of the sand and quit relying on your polite and uninformed internet "friends". The answer is f*cking well known.

[Carl Spackler]

Just now, RetiredCollegeCoach said:

You can know right now if you pull your head up out of the sand and quit relying on your polite and uninformed internet "friends". The answer is f*cking well known.

To be fair, it's only reasonable for people to want reporters to confirm what you're saying before it's believed. Many Huddlers have broken news before, but many others have blown smoke where there was no fire. It's OK to proceed with caution. 

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

Just now, Carl Spackler said:

To be fair, it's only reasonable for people to want reporters to confirm what you're saying before it's believed. Many Huddlers have broken news before, but many others have blown smoke where there was no fire. It's OK to proceed with caution. 

That's fair. I guess I'm just tetchy because the guy who started this thread consistently pretends to be in the know while providing boilerplate analysis of secondhand sources that are a week or more old...while not knowing a single damn thing that hadn't already been reported - even things that are borderline open secrets.