Davis gets to share wealth with three new partners
David White, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007
(10-24) 19:21 PDT Alameda -- Al Davis is still in complete control of all things Raiders. He just has more partners and additional cash flow after Wednesday's deal.
At the league owners meeting in Philadelphia, the NFL gave the Raiders approval to sell a 20 percent minority interest to a group of investors. However, Davis and his family retained their controlling interest in the team. They did not relinquish their power, and they don't ever plan to.
The small group of East Coast businessmen is led by David Abrams, director of the Abrams Capital investment firm; Paul Leff, founder of the Perry Corporation money management firm, and Dan Goldring, managing director at Perry Corp.
"They are thrilled to join the history and tradition of the Raiders," team chief executive Amy Trask said. "We are impressed with their passion for the Raiders and their love of the game of football, and we are excited to welcome them as limited partners in the Raiders."
Team officials did not release any further information about the limited partners or terms of the sale.
Davis, who was believed to own about 67 percent of the team, is the majority shareholder and managing general partner. He's tried to sell a minority share for at least a year after picking up a 31 percent share in a financial settlement with the heirs of former Raiders co-founder Ed McGah.
Davis reportedly paid out about $90 million in the court-mediated settlement. Forbes magazine estimated the Raiders' value at $812 million, which ranks 28th in the 32-team league, in its annual league evaluations last month.
The other limited partners are Ginny Boscacci, Rita Boscacci, Jack Hartman, Bob Seaman, Doray Vail and Gertrude Winkenbach, according to the team media guide.
The deal has been in the works for several months and awaited NFL approval at this week's owners meeting. The vote was unanimous, according to a league official.
Carr pulls over: Special teams returner Chris Carr left practice with a calf injury and did not return.
Carr said he's been nursing a calf injury for two weeks and re-aggravated it on his final punt return in Sunday's 12-10 loss to Kansas City. This was the first time it kept him from practicing.
Defensive tackle Gerard Warren (thigh) also did not practice. He's been out for three weeks, which is longer than Kiffin expected.
By the rules: Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher is co-chairman of the NFL's competition committee, which considers rule changes every offseason. He doesn't know if they'll reconsider the rule that allows coaches to call last-second timeouts to freeze kickers, as it happened in two Raiders games this season.
Frankly, Fisher thinks it will work itself out soon enough.
"All one coach has to do is ice the kicker as the kick's getting up in the air and have the kicker miss, and the come back and have the kicker make the (next) kick and lose the game," Fisher said. "Then, I don't think you'll ever see it happen again."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/25/SPIHSVKKE.DTL
This article appeared on page D - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
David White, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, October 25, 2007
(10-24) 19:21 PDT Alameda -- Al Davis is still in complete control of all things Raiders. He just has more partners and additional cash flow after Wednesday's deal.
At the league owners meeting in Philadelphia, the NFL gave the Raiders approval to sell a 20 percent minority interest to a group of investors. However, Davis and his family retained their controlling interest in the team. They did not relinquish their power, and they don't ever plan to.
The small group of East Coast businessmen is led by David Abrams, director of the Abrams Capital investment firm; Paul Leff, founder of the Perry Corporation money management firm, and Dan Goldring, managing director at Perry Corp.
"They are thrilled to join the history and tradition of the Raiders," team chief executive Amy Trask said. "We are impressed with their passion for the Raiders and their love of the game of football, and we are excited to welcome them as limited partners in the Raiders."
Team officials did not release any further information about the limited partners or terms of the sale.
Davis, who was believed to own about 67 percent of the team, is the majority shareholder and managing general partner. He's tried to sell a minority share for at least a year after picking up a 31 percent share in a financial settlement with the heirs of former Raiders co-founder Ed McGah.
Davis reportedly paid out about $90 million in the court-mediated settlement. Forbes magazine estimated the Raiders' value at $812 million, which ranks 28th in the 32-team league, in its annual league evaluations last month.
The other limited partners are Ginny Boscacci, Rita Boscacci, Jack Hartman, Bob Seaman, Doray Vail and Gertrude Winkenbach, according to the team media guide.
The deal has been in the works for several months and awaited NFL approval at this week's owners meeting. The vote was unanimous, according to a league official.
Carr pulls over: Special teams returner Chris Carr left practice with a calf injury and did not return.
Carr said he's been nursing a calf injury for two weeks and re-aggravated it on his final punt return in Sunday's 12-10 loss to Kansas City. This was the first time it kept him from practicing.
Defensive tackle Gerard Warren (thigh) also did not practice. He's been out for three weeks, which is longer than Kiffin expected.
By the rules: Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher is co-chairman of the NFL's competition committee, which considers rule changes every offseason. He doesn't know if they'll reconsider the rule that allows coaches to call last-second timeouts to freeze kickers, as it happened in two Raiders games this season.
Frankly, Fisher thinks it will work itself out soon enough.
"All one coach has to do is ice the kicker as the kick's getting up in the air and have the kicker miss, and the come back and have the kicker make the (next) kick and lose the game," Fisher said. "Then, I don't think you'll ever see it happen again."
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/25/SPIHSVKKE.DTL
This article appeared on page D - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle