Panthers Inch Closer to New Ownership

CHARLOTTE, NC — The Panthers are closer than ever to new ownership.

WCCB Charlotte has confirmed that hedge fund manager, David Tepper, is at the top of the list.

Owner Jerry Richardson can choose who he wants to sell the team to, but other NFL owners have to approve.

Minicamp continues out in the open, but behind the scenes, the finance committee is preparing to evaluate Tepper as the top candidate to own the team, NFL sources say.

“Oh yeah, it would be nice to have it over with,” said Head Coach Ron Rivera. “My understanding was everything was always hinging on the ownership meeting coming up in a couple weeks.”

The NFL owners meeting is in Atlanta May 21.

The finance committee could get Tepper’s financial documents as early as next week, sources say. They’d give a recommendation to owners, who could vote at the Atlanta meeting.

“Hopefully, we will know by then, and we will go from there,” said Rivera.”And, again, like I said, it would be very unfair and probably not proper for me to speculate on anybody.”

Alan Kestenaum and Ben Navarro are still potential buyers, and NFL sources said their bids were higher than Tepper’s $2.2 billion offer.

However, Tepper has more money.

He is a hedge fund manager worth an estimated $11 billion.

He’s already in the league as a minority owner of the Steelers.

Richardson announced the sale of the team in December, hours after allegations of sexual and racial misconduct in the workplace surfaced against him.

Three-fourths of the NFL team owners have to approve the sale.