| Eddie DeBartolo's ownership of the
San Francisco 49ers, which included the highs of NFL championships and the disgrace of
banishment, is over. In a deal resolving a feud with his sister over the family's
financial empire, Denise DeBartolo York formally assumed control of the team. While
keeping the 49ers in the family, the deal announced Sunday severs all ties between
DeBartolo and the team he ran for 20 years.
DeBartolo stepped away from the team and left his seat on the Edward J. DeBartolo Corp.
board in December 1997 after he became ensnared in a Louisiana gambling fraud probe. His
sister assumed management of the club at that time.
The two began feuding over the family's more than $1 billion financial empire, the
cornerstone of which is the five-time Super Bowl-winning team.
They filed lawsuits against each other before reaching a settlement under which
DeBartolo gave up his ownership stake, leaving the team in the hands of his sister and her
husband, John York, who has served as the club's chief executive for the last year.
DeBartolo gets certain real estate and stock holdings. His sister also gets Louisiana
Downs horse-racing track and the corporate headquarters in Youngstown, Ohio.
While the feuding siblings have signed off on the deal, it still must be approved by
the NFL and the IRS.
DeBartolo pleaded guilty in October 1998 to a charge of failing to report a felony
arising from claims that he paid former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards $400,000 in exchange
for the ex-governor's help to get a riverboat casino license.
DeBartolo avoided a prison sentence by agreeing to testify against Edwards, but the NFL
fined him $1 million and suspended him for one year. The ban ended last month, but
DeBartolo never rejoined the 49ers in any capacity.
ProFootballWeekly.com asked contributing editor Joel Buchsbaum to weigh in on the
subject.
Q: Given all the success Eddie DeBartolo's 49ers teams had on the field against the
backdrop of the problems he has had away from the game of late, can you put his time as
the 49ers' owner into perspective?
Buchsbaum: Eddie DeBartolo was the all-time players' owner. He treated them like
royalty. Would go well beyond. Paid them extremely well. Gave them the best working
conditions and rewarded them with lucrative trips, rewards and gifts when they did well
for him. His goals were twofold - to be loved by his players and to win championships. He
loved the spotlight. He loved basking in the glory. Had no real fiscal responsibility in
running the team. The bottom line just didn't seem to matter to him as long as it was
(enough) wins and (not too many) losses. He could be very tough to work for for those
people underneath when things weren't going well, but he'd also treat them like royalty
when the team was going well. |
