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newpress.com1 sourceNieman Lab
ESPN.com - SAN FRANCISCO -- Denise DeBartolo York is the new owner of the San Francisco 49ers, ending a sibling rivalry and completely severing ties between her brother, Eddie DeBartolo, and the team he ran for 20 years. <p> "It's official," Sam Singer, a spokesman for DeBartolo York said Sunday. <p> DeBartolo and his sister signed the deal in Nashville Saturday, making final their plans to go their separate financial ways. <p> 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. <p> 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. <p> 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. <p> DeBartolo gets certain real estate and stock holdings. <p> His sister also gets Louisiana Downs horse racing track and the corporate headquarters in Youngstown, Ohio. <p> "She's very pleased and proud to be the owner of the San Francisco 49ers and she's very pleased that this chapter is both behind her and her brother, and everyone can move forward with their personal and professional lives," Singer said. <p> DeBartolo's spokesman in San Francisco, Rick Rice, and his Nashville lawyer, Aubrey Harwell, did not immediately return calls for comment. <p> While the feuding siblings have signed off on the deal, it still must be approved by the NFL and the IRS. <p> The agreement comes just days before DeBartolo's expected testimony in the federal racketeering trial of former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards. <p> DeBartolo pleaded guilty in October 1998 to a charge of failing to report a felony arising from allegations that he paid Edwards $400,000 in exchange for the ex-governor's help to get a riverboat casino license. <p> 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. <p> His legal troubles, along with the bickering between him and his sister over the last couple of years, has put the team's plan to build a new stadium on hold. San Francisco voters had agreed to allow issuance of a $100 million bond to help finance a combined stadium and mall project, but the development never broke ground because of concerns over spiraling costs and the organizational disarray caused by the family feud. <p> Singer said DeBartolo York and her husband are committed to keeping the team in San Francisco, to being passionate owners and to pursuing the possibility of building the new stadium.
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