Randy Lerner closer to sign over $1 billion Cleveland Browns deal with new owner Jimmy Haslam – NFL News
The Cleveland Browns are closer to signing a $1 billion plus deal with Jimmy Haslam as Randy Lerner looks ready to surrender the ownership rights of the team to the prospective owner in the near future.
Jimmy, who boasts to be a ‘1,000’ percent fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, has launched his tour de Browns during which he is due to meet president Mike Holmgren, coach Pat Shurmur and other officials of the team. He looks upbeat about the prospects of buying
one of the prominent National Football League (NFL) franchises.
He said:
"As soon as I got out of my car, the gentleman who grabbed my bags started telling me how serious Cleveland takes its football, how important it is to win, how much the Browns mean to them."
He added:
"We're in Cleveland now and we're fired up."
According to some analysts, the $1 billion plus is a healthy price tag for a team like the Browns. It is even more significant given the team had not done well in the league for the last few consecutive seasons.
Randy inherited the Browns following death of his father in 2002. He also owns the English premier soccer league club Aston Villa. The Browns’ owner recently confirmed the reports, first emerged a couple of months ago, that he is giving up the ownership
of the franchise.
He insisted then that the process was in the initial stage and nothing practical had taken place between the stakeholders. It was about a couple of weeks ago, and apparently both sides had been in constant contacts and working out the deal since then.
As per the latest media reports, the deal is almost ready for signing. Any term of the transaction except for the estimated value was not available until the filing this report.
Lerner earlier assured the fans that he had made it conditional to the new owner to keep the team in Cleveland. So the Browns will stay where they are and it is expected the football activity will not be affected by the change of ownership hands.
The actual transfer of the team is expected to take some time as following signing of the deal the owner faces a number of regulatory hurdles to get it cleared and closed.
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