Red, Reggie, and the Strib

Red, Reggie, and the Strib

Vikes sale: exhaustive Fowler coverage, but paper ignores the Big Red Rat factor

Since Reggie Fowler's bid to purchase the Vikings was accepted by Red McCombs in February, two things have been striking about the paper's coverage: how rigorously it has pursued and reported the details of Fowler's offer and his background (story links here)--and how silent it's been concerning McCombs's possible stake in accepting an offer that may not pass muster with the NFL in the end. (At issue: the size of his personal fortune, and his business relationship with a man convicted in a college basketball point-shaving case.) 

Fans are left to assume that Fowler's offer must be legitimate and sound, since McCombs surely did some due diligence of his own before accepting it. And no doubt he did. But McCombs may have been considering other things. As far as I've noticed, the Strib has never taken up the matter of Fowler's $20 million down payment and its status in the event the league turns Fowler down. Is it Red's to keep, as down payments usually are? We assume so, but when CP contacted Fowler's press rep, she declined to comment, and we never heard back from league officials to whom we posed the question.

Finally, a last detail of Fowler's finances that the Strib has yet to explore: Though the paper reported that the deal hinges partly on Fowler's sale of his share of a flight simulator company, SATCO, some experts think Fowler may be kiting the hell out of SATCO's value on paper. The story is told nicely at Mr. Cheer or Die's Viking Underground (scroll down to second item).