Art Rooney Jr. Expects Steelers Ownership Decision Soon

Four Of Pittsburgh's Rooney Brothers Want To Sell Shares In Team

POSTED: 5:38 pm EDT September 17, 2008

UPDATED: 9:32 pm EDT September 18, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- Art Rooney Jr. -- one of four brothers who are each looking to sell their 16 percent shares in the Pittsburgh Steelers -- said he expects the family to decide soon on a deal to sell the team.

"My feeling on that is, if you want to do something right, you don't want to do it on a timeline," Rooney told The Associated Press Thursday. "Although these things do stretch on, I thought we'd have some kind of understanding by the preseason, and now we're coming up on the third game of the season and you don't want it to drag out. After all this time we put in it, it's the appropriate time that we should start making a decision."

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Some media reports speculated that prospective buyer Stanley Druckenmiller gave the Rooneys a Friday deadline, but Art Jr. said the decision won't be made at that time.

"With all due respect to Mr. Druckenmiller, who is a wonderful sportsman and who certainly loves Pittsburgh and loves the Steelers, I'm just worried about this becoming a circus," Art Jr. told the AP.

Steelers spokesman Dave Lockett told WTAE Channel 4 Action News that the team would have no comment on the ownership issue Thursday.

Some of the brothers want to sell so they can avoid future inheritance taxes for their children and grandchildren. Also, they want to keep their ownership shares in racetracks that offer casino gaming, which goes against National Football League restrictions.

Steelers chairman Dan Rooney and his son, team president Art Rooney II, are attempting to buy out Dan's four brothers -- Art Jr., Tim, Patrick and John.

The brothers are exploring the possibility that they could get more money by going outside the family for a buyer. They hired the investment firm Goldman Sachs to calculate the value of their shares.

"But I think those guys with Goldman Sachs have a few more important things to worry about than the Rooney brothers," Art Jr. told the AP, referring to the country's financial crisis. "It's obvious, because everybody seems to know about it, that we're having discussions."

Under NFL rules, a sale would have to be approved by the owners of at least 24 of the league's 32 teams.

The Rooneys' cousins in the McGinley family own the other 20 percent of the Steelers franchise and have not expressed interest in selling their shares.

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