Copey11 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 you are right. I don't think he wants to sell the Browns, but i think the family trust has lost a lot of value and they feel they need the money, with Randy having the asset with the most value. Will this be a positive for Villa? Hard to say as Randy has always been hands off and let others run the operations, and has spent generally what he needed to. Will this free up more cash for him personally? Only he, his lawyer, and financial advisor know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bannedfromHandV Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Looking at what has actually been said, I think it is very premature to make any assumptions (a) about what will actually happen and ( whether it's good news for Villa. At the moment, if he's in talks with a very rich person to bring new investment into the Browns, isn't that better news for them? I'd rather he was seeking extra investment input for Villa. However, being 'in bed' with a big investor for one of your sporting business ventures could prove to be beneficial in the future for othe sporting business ventures.......maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copey11 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 interesting news. It seems the deal may not be completed before October, which would mark 10 years since the death of Randy's father. This is interesting in that it appears Al Lerner put in his will a 10 year moratorium on the sale of the Browns. Randy would be selling as soon as he was able in this case. Potentially Randy has been a "lame-duck" owner in Cleveland for the last decade, which would explain the team's lack of success, though I think it would be unfair, as Randy has continually resisted pressure from the NFL to raise ticket prices, rename the stadium, and other revenue increasing schemes (certain types of revenue are shared across the league), and has never shied away from opening up the checkbook. It would also give further validity to his passion for Villa as he "chose" to buy this team and invest in it. Updates when I have them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheTransferWindow Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 The Browns President Mike Holmgren is speaking right now and has said Lerner is giving up controlling interest of the team, so it's not just him bringing in investment. Follow the tweets here: https://twitter.com/MaryKayCabot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 interesting news. It seems the deal may not be completed before October, which would mark 10 years since the death of Randy's father. This is interesting in that it appears Al Lerner put in his will a 10 year moratorium on the sale of the Browns. Randy would be selling as soon as he was able in this case. Potentially Randy has been a "lame-duck" owner in Cleveland for the last decade, which would explain the team's lack of success, though I think it would be unfair, as Randy has continually resisted pressure from the NFL to raise ticket prices, rename the stadium, and other revenue increasing schemes (certain types of revenue are shared across the league), and has never shied away from opening up the checkbook. It would also give further validity to his passion for Villa as he "chose" to buy this team and invest in it. Updates when I have them. It's a really fascinating turn of events. It's weird that if he never really felt much attachment for the Browns other than through his father's legacy that he chose to invest in another sport, one where very few owners make money. Who knows what it means. It could be great news for us but I suspect he just wanted to cash in due to other circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I think being generally very unpopular with Browns fans would have nudged him in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Copey11 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Or the family put pressure on him to do so. Not sure if he or the trust owns the Browns, but it certainly is an enormous asset and I could see the family not being as "passionate" about the team, not living in the city, and having lost a lot of value in their Bank of America shares over the last few years, and wanting to re-fill the coffers. I think he did have passion for the Browns, he grew up as a fan, and has a son playing American Football for a top school team in Cleveland. He has interests there and a history, so I don't really doubt his passion. As I wrote earlier, regardless of the results of his tenure as owner of the Browns, he has never displayed any hesitation to support the team, as misguided as his attempts may have been (and whether they were misguided is debatable). Fascinating turn of events is an apt way to put it. Professional sports teams, especially American Football teams, don't get sold very often, and there are only 32 of them, and they are all worth a boatload of money. So when it happens, the circumstances, motivations, machinations, and uncertainty of the future are all terribly interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioVilla Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 BTW, the Browns cannot be sold until October 2012, due to Al Lerner's moratorium on not allowing Randy to sell the team for ten years after his death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Either way we won't hear or know anything about it through the press, at least not until Carlos Tevez turns up on our doorstep. I'm not expecting earth-shattering investment all of a sudden but it's in his interest to put some money in now we've got rid of a lot of the shite and have a hungry new manager. Starting to get a bit giddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PandaMac Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 BTW, the Browns cannot be sold until October 2012, due to Al LernerMight have been wanting to sell for a while then but just couldn't do so? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaN.I Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I wonder will it affect us at all? Maybe he will throw.a few extra dollars this way or give up sport altogether and sell us too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioVilla Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 BTW, the Browns cannot be sold until October 2012, due to Al LernerMight have been wanting to sell for a while then but just couldn't do so? Quite likely. He has never been a meddlesome owner. He was the reluctant owner who had this dumped on him when his father died. This has been on the books since late Spring, so he's obviously had thoughts about this for a long time. Also, Democrats have recently introduce a bill to raise the Death Tax to 45%. Another good reason to sell the team now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Either way we won't hear or know anything about it through the press, at least not until Carlos Tevez turns up on our doorstep. I'm not expecting earth-shattering investment all of a sudden but it's in his interest to put some money in now we've got rid of a lot of the shite and have a hungry new manager. Starting to get a bit giddy.Agree, it's pretty clear he isn't going to or even going to be able to compete with Man City and Chelsea. What I'd expect would be a concerted effort to boost revenue and the club's profile by doing the stadium development and probably spending 25 million-ish a year on players initially, with a view to long-term sustainability of transfer fees, or as close to that as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hercs23 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 just read that lerner will be selling "controlling interest in the browns". surely this can be nothing but good for AVFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denis_B Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Why so excited about an owner selling something when he hardly bothered to come to VP last season? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 just read that lerner will be selling "controlling interest in the browns". surely this can be nothing but good for AVFCThat sums up the last 4 1/2 pages of this thread quite nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_John_10 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 A chance now for him to be the owner we thought we were getting. Consistent, sensible imvestment, a young hungry manager and a long term plan to get us back up there. I'm ready for Lerner to win me over again. Would love to have the faith in him that i had when he first came. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Why so excited about an owner selling something when he hardly bothered to come to VP last season?He was very wise not to come to VP in a year where he had appointed a stopgap manager to cut the wage bill, almost certainly knowing perfectly well that the season would be a frustrating and unsuccessful one, and that things would pick up after he sold (his controlling interest in) the Browns. If you're the owner of a big company you don't make shop floor visits during periods of redundancies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 A chance now for him to be the owner we thought we were getting. Consistent, sensible imvestment, a young hungry manager and a long term plan to get us back up there. I'm ready for Lerner to win me over again. Would love to have the faith in him that i had when he first came. Good stuff. I suspect that the lack of investment for the last couple of years was more due to wanting to sort the wage issue than Randy not being interested any more. If he has learnt from his mistakes in controlling the wage structure and perhaps has a fair chunk of cash in his pocket then we should all have reason to be optimistic. A new start for the club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 So while the likes of Norwich and Feyenoord run their mouths off at every opportunity the Villa team quietly go about their business and get things done. Randy is on a winning streak right now. Long may it continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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