All in the Family: Rooneys agree to keep ownership of Steelers
Football Betting Lines
11/15/2008 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A controlling interest in the Pittsburgh Steelers will reportedly be sold to current team chairman Dan Rooney and his son, Art II, the team's president.
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, four of the sons of club founder Art Rooney Sr. have agreed to sell their stakes to the fifth brother, Dan, and his son, for close to $750 million after business debt is subtracted.
The deal will reportedly include $280 million in loans with Dan Rooney needing to also secure several equity partners. The team itself will reportedly be used as collateral against the loans.
The Tribune-Review reported the four brothers selling their stakes would like to complete the deal before a board meeting in December.
The five Rooney brothers own 80 percent of the Steelers, with each controlling a 16 percent stake. The other 20 percent is owned by the McGinley family. Art Rooney Sr. founded the franchise in 1933.
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers have withdrawn the franchise record-setting offer they made to left fielder Manny Ramirez last week, but the club is still interested in bringing the slugger
<< Yankees offer Sabathia six years, $140 million
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees offered free agent pitcher
CC Sabathia a six-year, $140 million contract on Friday.
Yankees co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner confirmed the offer in a story on the
team's Web site. The deal
<< Wallace, Pistons send Lakers to first loss
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rasheed Wallace notched a season-high 25
points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds as the Detroit Pistons captured a
106-95 win against the Lakers, sending Los Angeles to its first loss of the
season.
<< Stoudemire's jumper, block help Suns edge Kings in OT
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amare Stoudemire hit the game-winning jumper
with 4.5 seconds left in overtime and blocked the final shot attempt, and
Shaquille O'Neal recorded 29 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, as the
Phoenix
<< Hamhuis gives Preds overtime win over Ducks
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dan Hamhuis scored with 2:43 remaining in
overtime and the Nashville Predators earned a rare 4-3 road win over the
Anaheim Ducks.
J.P. Dumont, Ryan Jones and Joel Ward also scored for the Pred
Shanghai, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Murray's sky-high ride to the lucrative Tennis Masters Cup semifinals came to an abrupt end Saturday, as Nikolay Davydenko closed strong in both sets to reach the final at the $4.45 million
No. 17 Miami opens season against Florida Southern >>
Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 17th-ranked Miami-Florida Hurricanes
will play host to the Florida Southern Moccasins on Saturday night in Coral
Gables.
While this game represents the season opener for Miami, Florida Southern
alread
No. 10 Gonzaga hosts Montana State-Billings in season opener >>
Spokane, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 10th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs are set to
host the Montana State-Billings Yellowjackets in the season opener for both
teams.
For Montana State-Billings, there is no where to go but up under the guidance
of f
No. 14 Tennessee opens season at home versus Chattanooga >>
Knoxville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The defending Southeastern Conference
Champion Tennessee Volunteers begin their quest for a repeat, as they tip off
the 2008-09 season against the visiting Chattanooga Mocs of the Southern
Conference.
Chatta
Top-ranked Tar Heels host Quakers in season opener >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The much-anticipated season opener in
Chapel Hill will finally take place this afternoon, as the top-ranked North
Carolina Tar Heels hit the Smith Center floor against the Penn Quakers.
Roy Williams' team e
FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.