Novelist Tom Clancy’s bid to buy the Minnesota Vikings proved as fictional as his books. Clancy backed out of his phantom $200 million deal Wednesday after reportedly trying to become a 30 percent owner by putting up only $5 million in cash.
That kind of math had a negative effect on the National Football League’s finance committee, which refused to give Clancy a two-week extension on his proposal.
“The decision was painful, but necessary,” Clancy wrote in a letter to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue withdrawing his bid.
Mired in a divorce, Clancy apparently was unable to come up with anything close to the $60 million required to be a controling 30 percent owner. According to one NFL owner, Clancy wanted to commit only $5 million to the deal.
The Vikings have been run by a 10-member board, none of whom meets the NFL’s 30 percent requirement, which led to Clancy’s bid. The current president, Roger Headrick, lost to Clancy in a counterbid of $180 million and is now expected to renew efforts to take control.
Chicagoan Marc Ganis, Clancy’s point man in the aborted purchase, was unaware of Clancy’s letter and said he would continue trying to put together investors to buy the team. But two Vikings board members said the deal is off if Clancy isn’t the lead investor.
When Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander entered the picture last week and offered $25 million in exchange for a provision to buy the team if Clancy wanted to sell, the Vikings’ board smelled trouble. Houston is looking to replace the Oilers, who moved to Tennessee.
Clancy’s withdrawal letter appeared sensitive to Minnesota’s concerns about a move.
“I love football and I see the Vikings franchise as an extraordinary opportunity in an extraordinary community,” he wrote. “I relished the chance to be part of the community, committing from the outset that the team would remain in Minnesota. Having witnessed the damage done in Baltimore when the Colts left, I would never inflict that on the Twin Cities.”
The Vikings’ board admitted it did not investigate Clancy’s group thoroughly enough.
“Ganis has said all along, `Don’t pay any attention to the rumors you’re hearing. We’ve got equity investors lined up just dying to get in. There’s nothing to worry about,’ ” board member Jaye Dyer said. “Well I guess there was something to worry about after all.”
Clancy is divorcing his wife, Wanda, after 29 years of marriage. She filed suit in Maryland claiming she is entitled to some of Clancy’s future earnings because the characters in his books were developed during their marriage.
After Clancy’s bid was approved by the board in February, Headrick challenged the sale based on a partnership clause allowing him right of first refusal. But Tagliabue ruled against Headrick March 19, clearing the way for Clancy’s group.
The author of best-sellers such as “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games,” and “Clear and Present Danger,” Clancy was ranked 27th on Forbes magazine’s list of highest-paid entertainers last year with an estimated gross income of $50 million in 1996-97.
San Antonio businessman Red McCombs, who finished behind Clancy and Headrick in bidding, has expressed continuing interest in the club.
