Last weekend, PFT reported that the Titans and the league office currently are working through issues regarding the team’s ownership structure. Those issues could result in litigation.
They apparently won’t result in a voluntary sale of the team, which is what makes litigation a real possibility. Unless the league relents in its position that: (1) the current structure doesn’t comply with league rules; and (2) the only way to comply with league rules is to sell, the choices for current ownership will be to become pariahs among their partners by playing the antitrust card -- or no longer having partners at all.
The Titans continue to insist they’re not for sale, which underscores the notion that they won’t sell voluntarily. Still, someone has been lining up potential buyers. Per multiple sources, as many as six ready, willing, and able purchasers of the franchise have been identified by the league.
Earlier this week, team president Steve Underwood admitted that issues regarding ownership exist.
“Those are things we’re working through with the league since I came back to work here,” Underwood told reporters, via the Tennessean. “We’ve made progress in trying to work through our issues with the league. I think we’ve made good progress. We expect to continue working with the league to help get there.”
He also reiterated once again that the team isn’t for sale, and he opted not to comment on PFT’s report that an antitrust lawsuit could be looming to prevent a forced sale.
“We have never discussed those things publicly, and we’re not going to start this afternoon,” Underwood said.
The question becomes whether the fight between the league office and the Titans ever goes completely public, with the NFL dropping the hammer by mandating that the Titans comply with applicable ownership bylaws by a certain date -- and with the Titans responding by dropping a lawsuit into the lap of the league office.