Vikings Sale Comes to an Agreement

[Joe]

The news up here is reporting that a purchase price has been met by Reggie Fowler and Red McCombs, suppossed to be a press conference tomorrow. Of course, it will then need approval from the league.

[mckerney]

We'll have to see if it works out, because what I was hearing before now is that Fowler didn't have the money for it, and I can still remember when Tom Clancy bought the Vikings.

I'm still hoping that Taylor winds up buying the team.

[Joe]

he needs 30% of the purchase price I believe, we'll see whats in his deck soon.

[mckerney]

Press conference underway. Red looks upset, likely because he had to pay to turn the power on at the Vikings Winter Park facilities.

[Joe]

what channel is carrying the press conference?

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by George W Bush

what channel is carrying the press conference?

Right now KSTP and KARE 11.

[Joe]

woot cool

[mckerney]

It was promising that Fowler said he intends to move to Minnesota when the sale is complete, and that local car dealer Denny Hecker is one of the partners.

[Joe]

agreed. but the best news of the day is that the twins have signed Santana to a 40 mil deal.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by George W Bush

agreed. but the best news of the day is that the twins have signed Santana to a 40 mil deal.

Yeah, if only the Wolves could complete a trade sending Spreewell somewhere today.

[hhiipp]

I sure wish uncle Reggie would send some of that cash my way.

[SunDancer]

Anyone shed some light on who this Reggie is?

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by SunDancer

Anyone shed some light on who this Reggie is?

Former linebacker at Wyoming in college, and then I believe he spent a breif stint with the Bengals. He started a business in Arizona producing various plastic goods, he now has a networth of an estimated $400 million.

[mckerney]

Dola: Here's a recent article about Fowler:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/card...2fowler12.html

NFL quest puts humble Arizonan in limelight

Craig Harris
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

Without fanfare, Chandler's Reggie Fowler has become a millionaire by selling life's simplest products.

Pencils, plastic bags and foam trays that hold meat in supermarkets all have been part of Fowler's business portfolio, which now includes a cattle ranch, bank, ice-skating rink and flight-simulator company.

His next acquisition, however, would be the most prominent.

The 46-year-old, who owns Chandler-based Spiral Inc., is in the final stages of buying the Minnesota Vikings. If the deal, which could be announced as early as Monday, goes through, Fowler would become the first African-American to own a National Football League franchise. The price has not been disclosed, but the Vikings' value has been estimated at more than $600 million.

"This is not an ego trip for him," said Jack Clifford, a Valley broadcaster in the 1970s and a business partner of Fowler. "This is a business deal, and it's time for someone like Reggie to be an important financial player in major-league sports. Maybe it will break open the opportunity for others."

In 1989, with a $1,000 investment, Fowler started Spiral, which has supplied a range of non-food items, such as bags, cups, containers, labels and janitorial supplies, to grocery stores.

Spiral, which Fowler named after the direction of a football thrown on a straight line, also is the name of his other enterprises, including an aviation firm and development and foam-manufacturing companies.

Revenues for his firms have grown from $12.3 million in 1992 to $31 million in 2003, according to published reports. Fowler declined to disclose current revenues. His net worth is estimated in excess of $400 million.

"We have had a lot of vision. We are relentless and hard workers," Fowler said. "But we don't like to talk about what we do. . . . I really like my privacy."

Fowler, described by friends and business partners as intense, honest and hardworking, also has tried to stay below the radar in his pursuit of the Vikings.

His quest became public last summer, but since then he has declined to make many public statements except to say he is working to buy the team.

The Arizona Republic and Minneapolis media outlets have reported in recent days that a deal with Vikings owner Red McCombs is imminent. McCombs did not return calls Friday.


On the way up
Fowler got his start in business by working for his father, but it was a humble start.

He washed dishes.

Growing up in Tucson, Fowler worked at his dad's restaurant, Al's Pit Bar-b-que, the same place the Sahuaro High School football squad would have its team dinners when Reggie was a star tailback.

Fowler's mother, Eloise, said that although Reggie's two brothers and two sisters were interested in cooking, he was more concerned about the overall business.

"He wanted to know the profits. He was interested in economics," she said.

At home, Eloise said Reggie was the only one of her children who always seemed to have money tucked away.

"He would loan his sisters and brothers money," she said, "and then he would have them do his chores for him."

After graduating from high school in 1977, Fowler went to the University of Wyoming on a football scholarship, where he played linebacker and earned a reputation as a gritty, tough player. During a game against Oklahoma, the tip of his right index finger was cut off and had to be sewn back on.

He earned a bachelor's degree in social work in December 1981, according to university records, and then played briefly with the Cincinnati Bengals and one season with the now-defunct Arizona Wranglers of the U.S. Football League.

When his playing days ended, Fowler enrolled in graduate school at Arizona State University, but he was recruited to work as a sales representative for Mobil Chemical, a division of Mobil Oil in the mid-1980s.

"The hours he worked were endless," said Rick Bifulco, a former Mobil executive who hired Fowler. "He was smart and aggressive, and he won all the promotions."

Bifulco said Fowler was one of the first sales representatives who had mastered the use of an Apple computer.

After about two years of working for Mobil's packaging division, which included selling paper bags, plastics and foam products to grocery stores, Fowler left the company and worked as a distributor, Bifulco said.

"Plastic is what I did. People used to say I was a plastics engineer," Fowler said. "We were good at it."

In the mid-1990s, Fowler sold the plastics-supply company to Unisource, a division of Alco Standard Co. of Pennsylvania, for an undisclosed amount.

"It was a very valuable acquisition for us. His was by far one of the most-profitable companies that we had bought," said Rick Check, a former Unisource executive who now owns his own packaging company. "He knows how to sell profitably and keep his costs down."

Check said one of the things that impressed him about Fowler was that he never flaunted his success.

"When we would drive around to the stores he serviced, it was never in a nice car. That's not his image," Check said.

Even today, Fowler said he drives a 5-year-old short-bed Toyota pickup. However, he does have his toys.

Fowler, a licensed pilot, said he owns a King Air 200, a twin turboprop corporate plane that can accommodate about a dozen people.

About three years ago, Fowler acquired Spiral Aviation Training Co. in Centennial, Colo., near Denver.

The company, which Fowler said is one of the top three simulator manufacturers in the world, sells flight-simulator and flight-training devices in the commercial, business and military markets. Its clients include Continental Connection, Northrop Grumman and the Navy.

Fowler's other interests in Colorado include a foam-tray manufacturer in Denver, which makes trays for meat products in supermarkets, and the Bamford Feed Yard, an Angus cattle ranch in Haxtun, in the state's northeastern corner, where Fowler has 25,000 head of cattle.

If that weren't enough, Fowler said he owns more than $300 million in real estate in Arizona and Colorado, and he said he is developing homes in Phoenix and Nogales under Spiral Construction Management.

Fowler also is the largest investor in Phoenix-based Bank of the Southwest, a two-branch community bank that has $84.3 million in assets, according to the state Banking Department. In Chandler, Fowler also owns Makutu's Island, a popular play spot, and the building for Polar Ice, a skating rink. In the past, he also has owned a bakery and a Water & Ice store.

"Reggie has always been an entrepreneur," said John Mistler, Fowler's high school teammate and executive vice president of the bank. "He's a self-made man who has found ways to be successful. . . . And he has parlayed that into the wealth he has today."

Mistler, a former NFL receiver with the New York Giants and a color commentator for the Arizona Cardinals, said Fowler has worked just as hard to stay out of the spotlight.

"Some people are just private," Mistler said. "Reggie is not a person looking for a lot of accolades. . . . He enjoys being in the background, and he likes it that way. He has been very successful in doing that."


A helping hand
Fowler has stepped up in his own way, however. In the late 1990s, he quietly put up $10 million to help the Horizon Community Learning Center build a K-12 charter school in the Ahwatukee Foothills.

The school, which was initially unable to get a bank loan, later sold bonds to buy back the facilities.

Fowler, who has no ties to the school, said he helped because he could.

"When you make money, you feel you should give back. We had an opportunity," Fowler said. "Others have helped me along the line."

Although Fowler has had immense success, his Spiral Inc. has had a few blemishes.

The company has been sued 19 times in the past six years on allegations that it did not pay its bills. Half of the cases were settled or ended in judgments.

The cases, filed in Maricopa County Superior Court and two Justice Courts, sought a combined $578,000 for non-payment of bills, contracts or employee wages.

Two sports-marketing experts have said the lawsuits likely would not create a problem for Fowler, who would need approval from other NFL owners to buy the Vikings.

They said NFL owners, who own other businesses, also likely have been sued and understand that it is part of doing business.

Fowler said that the average lawsuit involved less than $1,200 and that in most cases he was not involved. In some cases, he said, Spiral was sued because it owned the property where there was a legal dispute and the dispute centered on a subcontractor.

Those close to Fowler say that nearly everything he has touched has been successful.

"He's the type you want to go to battle with," said Lafayette "Fat" Lever, a former NBA player who has done business with Fowler.

"You know as hard as you work, he is going to work 50 times harder. The competitive spirit comes out in him. He will not be outdone or outworked. . . . If he wants to get it done, he will find a way to get it done."

[mckerney]

Double Dola:

His other partners are thought to be:
Denny Hecker: Owns several car dealerships in Minnesota. Fowler confirmed that he was a partner, but declined to name the other two
Alan Landis: Was at one time a part owner of the Nets
Zyggi Wilf: New Jersey real estate mogul

[Fonzie]

Originally Posted by mckerney

Zyggi Wilf: New Jersey real estate mogul

That name absolutely rocks.

[WSUCougar]

Next on the Vikings' agenda: trade Moss.

Option A: To the Raiders for WR Porter and CB Woodson
Option B: To the Ravens for CB McCallister and other goodies

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Next on the Vikings' agenda: trade Moss.

Option A: To the Raiders for WR Porter and CB Woodson
Option B: To the Ravens for CB McCallister and other goodies

I'd still be surprised to see this happen with everyone on staff on one year contracts.

[WSUCougar]

I can dream can't I?

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Option A: To the Raiders for WR Porter and CB Woodson

I'll take that. Check please!

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

I can dream can't I?

I'm just dreaming that some money will be spent in free agency. There was the Winfield signing last year, but only being willing to add one player isn't enough. The team spent the season at about $7 mill under the cap, and that's with Winfields bonus counting all against the cap this season.

And hopefully Fowler will be willing to spend a few thousand dollars to thaw out the practice field before a playoff game.

[Joe]

i was relieved to hear that Hecker is one of Fowler's local partners, and not somebody like Carl Pohlad.

[Franklinnoble]

I'm not holding my breath on this one...

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

I'm not holding my breath on this one...

Well, if this turns out to be another Tom Clancy, Taylor would probably take another shot at buying the teams.

[Franklinnoble]

I remember when Clancy bid on the Redskins. It was a bloody joke.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Next on the Vikings' agenda: trade Moss.

Option A: To the Raiders for WR Porter and CB Woodson
Option B: To the Ravens for CB McCallister and other goodies

Option B looks much better.

Woodson is a stiff. I was very disappointed in Porter last year. Nobody tanks a whole half season on my fantasy team. Nobody.

[sovereignstar]

So this is interesting. Okay, so not really, but how does shit like this happen? The Twin Cities media is already very skeptical of him and then he (or someone working for him) puts out false information like this. Stuuuuupid.


http://www.startribune.com/stories/510/5244268.html

Resume of prospective Vikings owner dogged by questions

In his official biography, distributed Monday by his Twin Cities public relations firm, Reggie Fowler declared that he played in the Little League World Series, implied that he earned a business administration and finance degree from the University of Wyoming and said that he played for the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL and the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.

According to officials with all of the sports organizations and official records at the NFL, CFL and University of Wyoming, none of those claims is exactly true.

Monday, Fowler, 46, announced with Vikings owner Red McCombs that he had signed a purchase agreement to buy the Vikings. That purchase must gain approval from the other NFL owners.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Fowler's Twin Cities public relations firm, Tunheim Partners, began issuing some clarifications to his biography, which Fowler's company, Spiral, Inc., supplied to the firm, said Leslie Kupchella, the Tunheim executive on the Fowler account.
Reggie Fowler's entourage of partners and advisors tours the Metrodome on Monday.
Richard Sennott
Star Tribune

Kupchella said the corrections, particularly the matter of his business degree from Wyoming, were the result of "conversations" with Fowler. She also said Tunheim released a new "Reggie Fowler Fact Sheet" via a well-known public relations news wire to news organizations to make Fowler's biography more "friendly" to news organizations.

The original biography was in a narrative form.

"We looked at all the narrative," Kupchella said of the wordy two-page biography. "We said, 'Let's put this into a more news friendly format.' "

On Monday, at the news conference introducing Fowler as the prospective owner, Kupchella, handed out an official news release that included Fowler's biography.

After a half-hour news conference, Fowler declined to be interviewed by any news organizations. Since emerging as a suitor for the Vikings, Fowler, described as a "private person," has been steadfast in refusing to be interviewed.

The Star Tribune, in the course of developing a profile of the man who is prepared to pay $625 million for the state's most popular sports franchise and who may seek public funding for a stadium, began to examine his biography.

It states: "At eleven years-old, Mr. Fowler's performance as an all-star baseball player earned him and his team a spot in the Little League World Series."

But Fowler's name does not appear on any roster of teams that have played in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.

Chris Downs, media relations manager of the Little League, examined rosters and teams throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s when Fowler, born in 1959, might have been eligible to play in the youth baseball world championship.

A team from Tucson, where Fowler grew up, did appear in the World Series in 1973, when Fowler would have been 14 years old, but his name doesn't appear on that roster.

"I'm quite certain he didn't participate in the Little League World Series," Downs said Wednesday. "I'm confident in saying that's inaccurate."

Knowing that Fowler's father, Alexander, was reportedly a career military man, Downs checked the rosters of international teams, but still didn't come up with Fowler's name.

Kupchella, in an interview Wednesday morning, was unaware of this discrepancy in Fowler's biography and said, "I'll be happy to check into it."

In the next paragraph of the biography, Fowler stated: "The early years in [his father's] restaurant business, where he developed a passion for numbers, led him to pursue a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis on Finance" at the University of Wyoming.

According to Peggy Joyce, who is in charge of record verifications and transcripts for the University of Wyoming registrar, Fowler received a degree on Dec. 19, 1981, in social work, not in any business-related field.

That's confirmed by the Wyoming athletic department, which released data on Fowler's four years on the school's football team.

Tunheim Partners, in its clarification Tuesday at 4:42 p.m., did fix that inaccuracy. The new fact sheet now states that his degree was in social work.

"We did note that," Kupchella said. "We had conversations with him."

In the next paragraph of the biography that Fowler's company gave to the Tunheim agency, it said: "On the athletic front, Mr. Fowler's stellar performance as an outside linebacker [at Wyoming] provided him an opportunity to pursue his dream of playing professional football. For three years, Mr. Fowler realized that dream by playing for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League, the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League and the Arizona Wranglers of the United States Football League."

But, according to complete player data bases collected by both the NFL and CFL, Fowler never played a game in either league.

Fowler made three unsuccessful attempts to play in the NFL, according to league records. The Cincinnati Bengals waived him during training camp in 1982, and the New York Jets waived him before camp in 1984. Fowler also tried out for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1984 but did not sign a contract.

And neither the Stampeders records, nor the CFL's complete data base, list him as having played a game in the league. Whether he tried out and was cut is unknown.

The Tuesday "fact sheet" fixes from Tunheim did address the Bengals' matter, noting now that he "attended" the Bengals training camp.

Kupchella said she learned of that difference during a busy Monday, the day of the announcement.

The media relations directors at the Little League and in Calgary discovered the discrepancies in Fowler's biography independently before being asked by the Star Tribune.

In both cases, Downs of the Little League and Kelsey Goldade, media relations director for the Stampeders, examined their records after reading about Fowler's news conference.

Goldade did so after receiving a phone call from a Calgary reporter wondering about Fowler's Stampeder career.

Downs went into the Little League's records because the organization tracks prominent Americans and Major League Baseball players who once played in the World Series.

According to the Little League World Series Web site, three boys named Fowler have played in the World Series, including a Tim Fowler from Chandler, Ariz., where Reggie Fowler now lives. But Tim Fowler played in 2003. It's not known if he is related to Reggie Fowler.

The other Fowlers were Charles and Thomas, who were from Des Moines and Kankakee, Ill.

Upon discovering that Reggie Fowler's name wasn't on any of his lists, Downs sent an email to the Vikings organization in Eden Prairie advising them that Fowler's biography was inaccurate.

[Surtt]

Wow, this is bad.

[rkmsuf]

What an asshat.

Off to a good start I see.

[Crapshoot]

Ouch - not good start.

[rkmsuf]

I hope he took out the stuff about how he invented the internet.

[Joe]

paging Glen Taylor... you may get another shot.

[Wolfpack]

In the post-George O'Leary era, you'd think people would understand that the press is going to delve into your resume' a bit to verify everything. Knowing that, how'd he think he was going to get away with these "inaccuracies"?

Bone-headed.

[Franklinnoble]

Ironic, since the Vikings hired George O'Leary after he lost the Notre Dame job.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by George W Bush

paging Glen Taylor... you may get another shot.

Doubtful that Taylor would get another shot because of this. The only shot Taylor has is if the NFL decides he doesn't have the money.

[RainRaven]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Next on the Vikings' agenda: trade Moss.

Option A: To the Raiders for WR Porter and CB Woodson
Option B: To the Ravens for CB McCallister and other goodies

Forget Option #2, Ravens won't give up him up even though he didn't have a excellent season, good cornerbacks are hard to find and I would rather see us draft a WR then give him up for Moss.

[rockboy70]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Next on the Vikings' agenda: trade Moss.

Option A: To the Raiders for WR Porter and CB Woodson
Option B: To the Ravens for CB McCallister and other goodies

Option C: To Dallas for 5 players and 7 draft picks.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by rockboy70

Option C: To Dallas for 5 players and 7 draft picks.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

In the post-George O'Leary era, you'd think people would understand that the press is going to delve into your resume' a bit to verify everything. Knowing that, how'd he think he was going to get away with these "inaccuracies"?

Bone-headed.

More importantly, this isn't a job interview - he came to an agreement and just needs approval (approval = cash). Who cares whether he was on a Little League champion team? Why even go there? It's not like it matters. Is he that desperate to show that he has some sort of sports background that he has to make up crap like this? Forget being dishonest...stupid is more like it.

[Wolfpack]

True enough. I'm sure the NFL would have bent over backwards for the guy as he is a minority and they've been roughed up some in recent years over the lack of such leadership. This doesn't help matters at all, though as you say, this sort of stuff isn't for a job interview as O'Leary's was. Still, it damages credibility and makes him look like he's got something to hide, like his $400 million fortune is based on Enron-style accounting or something.

[sovereignstar]

UPDATE

from ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1995986

Originally Posted by ESPN

The Star Tribune also reported that many of the more than three dozen lawsuits in Arizona and Colorado involving Fowler or his companies involved allegations of unpaid bulls. It said many of the claims were for small amounts, typically less than $20,000, though a few were for more than $100,000.

You have got to pay off your bulls before making way in the NFL.