Shortly after news broke that Chargers minority owner Dea Spanos Berberian is going to court to try to force the sale of the team, her three siblings jointly released a statement saying they are confident that’s not going to happen.
In a statement posted on the Chargers’ website attributed to Dean Spanos, Alexis Spanos Ruhl and Michael Spanos, the three siblings said they will keep the team in the family.
“Our parents, Alex and Faye, wanted the Chargers to be part of the Spanos Family for generations to come,” the statement said. “For the three of us the Chargers is one of our family’s most important legacies, just as it was for our parents. Unfortunately, our sister Dea seems to have a different and misguided personal agenda. If Dea no longer wishes to be part of this family legacy, the three of us stand ready to purchase her share of the franchise, as our agreements give us the right to do. In the meanwhile, the operations of the Chargers will be entirely unaffected by this matter, which relates only to the 36 percent share of the team that was owned by our parents. The three of us are entitled to three-fourths of that 36 percent share in any event, and under no circumstances will this situation impact control of the franchise. The three of us will remain firmly united as we seek to fulfill our parents’ wishes to make every decision in the best interests of the Los Angeles Chargers.”
Each of the four Spanos siblings owns 15 percent of the team, and the Spanos family trust owns 36 percent. (Other investors have the other 4 percent.) Berberian says the family trust is deeply in debt, and the only way to pay off the debt is to sell the team.