The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the four Rooney brothers not named Dan signed paperwork Monday to officially transfer controlling ownership of the team to Dan and his son, Art II.
The formal closing, which was supposed to occur in March, is now expected to happen within the next two weeks.
Coincidentally, Dan Rooney has since stepped aside from his day-to-day role with the team, given his recent appointment to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. Art II will manage the team in his capacity as franchise president.
Art II and Dan Rooney will continue to jointly own 30 percent of the team, under an exception to the requirement that one person control at least 30 percent of an NFL franchise. Previously, they jointly owned only 16 percent.
The change in ownership was necessitated by a 2006 Rooney family foray into legal gambling operations that violated the league’s rules. Some league insiders privately expressed frustration with the perception that the league office was looking the other way on the matter, giving the Rooneys extended time to solve the problem.
Even now, it’s not completely clear that the problem has been fully solved. Art Jr. and John Rooney reportedly are selling only half of their 16-percent pieces of the team, giving each brother eight percent ownership.
Unless both brothers have completely pulled out of the family gambling operations that run afoul of league rules, the situation that gave rise to the need to restructure the team still exists, albeit in a diminished capacity.
And that won’t do anything to silence the folks in league circles who think that the Rooneys have gotten special treatment on this issue.
What the hell? This has nothing to do with Michael Vick! Get with the program and stop posting relevant things!
Well yeah it’s pretty obvious by now that the Steelers get preferential treatment on the field and off it, inside the NFL and in the media, apparently.
Someone needs to explain to me why the Steelers are getting so many “exceptions” to ownership requirements. I still don’t understand this.
Special treatment for the Steelers? Really? You mean beyond “winning” their last two super bowls?
“Someone needs to explain to me why the Steelers are getting so many “exceptions” to ownership requirements. I still don’t understand this.”
Dan Rooney’s got a lot of influence. What, you thought he was appointed Ambassador to Ireland because he’s got so much experience in foreign affairs?
Barry Yobama’s secret shadow government (what do you think all the Czar’s are?) has operatives everywhere (ACORN), including within the NFL,, where the work almost exclusively on the Rooneys’ behalf.
It’s all real dirty-dealing scummy behind-the-scenes quid pro quo kinda stuff:
*The Rooney Rule
*Ronney’s Ambassadorship to Ireland
*Partial refs/favorable calls
*Favorable media representation
*Looking the other way in ownership matters
etc.
Yup, it’s not what you know, but who you know. And how much you’ve done for them.
And what they can do for you.
VoxVeritas says:
July 22, 2009 12:27 PM
Well yeah it’s pretty obvious by now that the Steelers get preferential treatment on the field and off it, inside the NFL and in the media, apparently.
_________________
You should get a little cheese to go with that whine. Your team is special too. Most fans don’t have a team owner that has the same plastic surgeon as Michael Jackson.
Be proud, you pull for the artists formerly known as America’s Team. You should get a little symbol or something.
VoxVeritas said: “Well yeah it’s pretty obvious by now that the Steelers get preferential treatment on the field and off it, inside the NFL and in the media, apparently.”
And don’t forget the preferential treatment the Steelers got from Tony Romo in their last meeting.
The Rooneys get special treatment largely because they were the only original NFL team to agree to jump to the AFL-dominated AFC during the 1970 merger (Cleveland and Baltimore also jumped, but are not original franchises).
The move was probably done to get a fresh start from the hideous history of the franchise to that point, but that in no way diminishes the risk the Rooneys were taking.
The AFL had recently struck a TV deal with NBC to give it a sense of permanence, but was in every way a junior partner in the new joint venture. The Steelers risked further alienating an already frustrated fan base by losing traditional rivalries with Philadelphia and New York and replacing them with Kansas City and San Diego, teams whose players the fans had likely never heard of.
Without the credibility in ownership and leadership (although certainly not the on-field product) provided by the Rooneys the new conference may never have achieved what it has, including the remarkable feat of winning two of the first four Super Bowls against what was supposed to be far superior opposition from the established power.
These gambling interests are indeed illegal and there must be distance put between them and the team, but the antiquated NFL rules against gambling were instituted to prevent profits from influencing the outcome of games. I seriously doubt the NFL thinks a couple slot parlors and racetracks over a thousand miles from Pittsburgh pose a threat to the integrity of the franchise.