Members of the Rooney family are reportedly trying to sell their shares in the Pittsburgh Steelers either to relatives or outsiders.

The team is technically in violation of National Football League rules that bar owners from having interests in gambling, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported. Three of the Rooneys are involved in the management of the Yonkers Raceway in New York, which recently added video slot machines.

The investment banker Goldman Sachs & Co. determined that the team is worth between $800 million and $1.2 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper said it had seen confidential documents labeled Project Newcastle and that the Goldman Sachs evaluation was done because some of Dan Rooney's brothers thought that his assessment undervalued the team.

Dan Rooney is now the team's chairman, while his son, Art Rooney II, is president.

Art Rooney Sr. bought the team in 1937 with money he won at the track. His sons and grandchildren now own 80 percent of the team with the McGinley family owning the other 20 percent.

Sources told the Post-Gazette that three of the brothers would like to sell their shares to Dan Rooney or to an outside investor. Stanley Druckenmiller, chairman of Duquesne Capital Management is reported to be interested.

Bookmark this news