Josh Nordstrom appeared set to take over the QUNET franchise last night, but sources tell QSN this is far from a done deal. Suitors are still joining the frenzy in an attempt to capitalize on the once-in-a-decade chance to join the nationally recognized QFL1.
As the news broke last week, it took a few days for the QFL to wake up from its summer slumber. QFL1 owners voiced disbelief that Adam Barron, the 2-time champion and former commissioner was really going to quit the QFL. “I’m spent on NFL and FF” he wrote, which took a few days for QFL Nation to take seriously.
After his intentions were confirmed last Thursday, the race to fill the void began. QSN learned that QFL2’s Nik Boman huddled with at least two QFL1 owners at his palatial Westchester estate over the July 4th weekend, discussing a possible bid. Nik seemed to be the favorite with his strong QFL1 connections and his growing QFL2 resume. But Nik had strong apprehensions about leaving QFL2, believing it would crumble without him, sources said. Boman seemed to want to be sweet talked into joining QFL1, as others were preparing for an aggressive land grab. One QFL1 owner remarked that “perhaps he was content remaining a big fish in a small pond.”
Interest in QUNET has been aggressive and growing by the day. QFL2’s Will Erat, Rob Brockman and Josh Nordstrom formally declared interest over the past week. Rumors also flew yesterday of a outside bid from hedge fund tycoon Adam Goldberg, but these reports were unconfirmed. Nordstrom aggressively pursued Barron directly, and a agreement in principal was struck yesterday morning, for the price of one beer. This would indicate Barron is more interested in finding the right home for his franchise, rather than pursuing an auction for the highest bidder.
However, once Barron was told of the intense interest for QUNET, he seemed to back off the deal struck with Nordstrom, perhaps opening the door again to other bidders. When told of other interest, he said “Sweet. Who are the other owners interested?” but then came back with “I would sell to Nordstrom if given the choice. I also understand you all will have to live with the choice so I’ll keep quiet until I hear back from comcom.”
The QFL1 was embarrassingly caught with its pants down in all of this, as the extensive Constitution provides zero guidance for ownership transfers. The Competition Committee debated furiously this week, attempting to find common ground on how to proceed and approve a sale of QUNET. The one provision that the QFL can lean on however is its rule that no owner may have an interest in another QFL Nation franchise, thus requiring any buyer of QUNET to firmly lineup sale of his own franchise prior to approval.
Thus it appears right now that Mr.. Nordstrom is the clear leader to acquire QUNET, but he needs to first arrange sale of Bing Dynasty to fulfill QFL1’s rules, as well as get approval from the rest of the QFL1’s owners, even if a formal vote will not be required. This could still leave the door ajar for Mr. Boman or one of the darkhourse candidates to jump back in. Stay tuned
Shades