Football Team’s Sale to Benefit Fund

A pending offer for the National Football League’s Washington Redskins could generate as much as $500-million for the charitable foundation created by the team’s owner, the late Jack Kent Cooke.

Mr. Cooke, who died in April 1997, left 90 per cent of the Washington Redskins to the charitable foundation that bears his name. In addition, he left the majority of the rest of his estate to the foundation. If the sale goes through, the total amount available to the foundation could be $1-billion, making it one of the 50 wealthiest funds in the country.

Mr. Cooke left 10 per cent of the team to his son, John. In his will, Mr. Cooke asked that the Redskins be sold at the highest possible price, but also requested that his son be given a chance to purchase the team.

The executors of the Cooke estate have accepted an $800-million proposal from a group of buyers led by the New York businessman Howard Milstein. But the National Football League has indicated it wants John Kent Cooke to be the owner, and it has asked the executors to submit a proposal from Mr. Cooke, along with the proposal from the Milstein group. The sale must be approved by at least three-fourths of the league’s owners.