Raiders owner Mark Davis insists he’s not selling the team. He also has agreed to a succession plan, in the event he ever does.
Yes, it’s confusing.
Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN report that NFL owners are expected to vote later this month on a plan that would entail Davis both selling seven percent of the team to Silver Lake co-chief Egon Durban and Michael Meldman and giving Durban the option to buy a majority interest in the franchise, if/when Davis decides to sell.
The equity sale comes at a valuation of $10 billion. Whether a price for Davis’s controlling interest has been set is not mentioned in the report.
Davis declined comment to ESPN. An unnamed source close to Davis said this: “Mark has no intention to sell his majority stake in the team. This sets up a smooth succession plan.” (One, why in the world would that sentiment need to be expressed on an off-the-record basis? Two, the quote seems contradictory. Which may answer the first point.)
Durban already owns 7.5 percent of the team, along with Meldman.
The situation basically gives Durban a right of first refusal to buy the team from Davis. As a practical matter, it blocks Davis from selling controlling interest in the team at a grossly below-market number to Tom Brady. Which would sound ridiculous, if Davis hadn’t already sold a minority stake in the team at a grossly below-market number to Brady.
That’s the biggest takeaway from this development, as we see it. Brady won’t be able to finagle control of the team from Davis, if that possibility was even on Brady’s radar screen.
Unless, of course, Durban eventually doesn’t exercise the option.
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