Relax, Dan Rooney isn’t going to sell the team (I’ve seen this everywhere, but chest bump to The White Boob Boom for emailing it to me).
It seems that Dan is just trying to buy his brothers’ shares in the team. Said brothers have more of an interest in other Rooney family investments, mostly gambling. This would rectify several ownership confusions.
First, it would separate the team from any gambling enterprises, something Dan is really trying for. That’s what a classy, proactive owner does, solves discrepancies before someone else brings up the issue and creates a non-story controversy of the Steelers being linked to gambling.
Also, this would allow Dan to adhere to NFL rules, which apparently the Rooneys were not doing to the fullest extent. Each of the 5 brothers owns 16% of the team. NFL rules state that the majority owner needs at least a 30% share. No one questioned the Rooney’s since 5 shares of 16% all came from the same family.
I see this going down one of two ways:
1. Dan buys out his brothers’ shares, keeping the team on his side of the family while selling his stakes in the other business ventures (gambling) to his brothers.
or
2. Dan buys out his brothers’ shares, and sells a minority stake in the team to an unrelated buyer, most likely Stanley Druckenmiller, the billionaire head of Duquesne Capital Management.
And if Rooney sells the team outright, you can call me any insult in the book.
