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by Vikes_Fan2823 » Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:50 pm http://vikings.scout.com/2/352253.html
The scene at Winter Park was about as hectic as it gets Monday -- a room full of reporters, camera operators and hot lights. The room was so packed that new prospective owner Reggie Fowler has flop-seat coming down his head like a scene out of "Broadcast News."
But now it's time for Vikings fans to once again begin sweating.
Red McCombs announced Monday that he has reach agreement to sell the team to Fowler for a reported $625 million. But, there are many more questions than answers that came out of the press conference.
When asked if there was any scenario under which he would relocate the Vikings, Fowler said "no" -- adding that the tradition of Vikings football is tied to Minnesota. But beyond that, answers were hard to come by.
Fowler declined to discuss his partners, which have been identified as a couple of New Jersey real estate magnates. He also declined to discuss what makes him believe he can get a stadium deal done where McCombs had failed.
But perhaps most worrisome is that he declined to explain what sort of role the old ownership and new group will play during the transition.
Free agency begins March 2 and draft preparation is already underway. But, with the Vikings reaching agreement on a sale, the matter now moves forward to the NFL finance committee, which will look over Fowler's financial books March 9. If approved, the sale will come to a vote of owners March 23.
In the interim, McCombs and his people will still run the team, but there is no apparent consensus on what will happen to the decision-making process. Will McCombs still be able to sign free agents until the team is officially sold? If he does, who would pay the signing bonus money? You can bet it won't be Red, which left many of the throng that made Fowler sweat with more questions after the press conference that it had before.
