Could the Titans and Browns swap owners?

How realistic is it for Haslam to trade Cleveland for Tennessee? Let’s evaluate.

Haslam may own Cleveland’s professional football team, but he’s a Tennessee man through and through. He was born in Knoxville and attended the University of Tennessee. He became CEO of truck stop chain Pilot Flying J, a company his father founded and which is based in Nashville. Outside of his ownership of the Browns and previously the Pittsburgh Steelers, the majority of Haslam’s business interests lie in Tennessee.

Acquiring the Titans would allow Haslam to consolidate his biggest business assets in one state. That could have several positive personal and fiscal benefits for the current Browns owner.

As La Canfora points out in his report, Haslam’s dream was always to own his hometown team. However, when the Browns became available in 2012, he was advised by the league not to wait for a potential bidding war with the deep-pocketed Tepper and Smith.

While Haslam has never publicly groused about ending up with the Browns, he could still desire the opportunity to acquire the Titans.

Just because he chose Cleveland doesn’t necessarily prevent him from owning a different team later on. In 2002, Major League Baseball orchestrated what amounted to a three-team trade. Montreal Expos owner Jeffrey Loria sold his team to the commissioner’s office in order to purchase the Florida Marlins from then-owner John Henry. The move paved the way for Henry to acquire the Boston Red Sox. The Expos were relocated to Washington, D.C. and sold to Lerner Enterprises.

Haslam could attempt a similar maneuver, selling his stake in the Browns to the league office while simultaneously making a move on the Titans.

Less than a year after closing the sale of the Browns, Haslam found himself at the center of a federal investigation for fraud related to Pilot Flying J. While Haslam was never formally prosecuted, he agreed to pay monetary penalties over two years. The entire matter became front page news during that time, something that possibly irked other NFL owners and the league office.

While Haslam is in no danger of losing the Browns over the investigation, it is possible that he would not acquire the requisite support to purchase another team. Every sale needs to be approved by a majority vote of the league’s 31 owners.

In 2012, Haslam acquired the Browns from Randy Lerner for $1 billion. Less than two years later, the price to buy an NFL team went up 40 percent. La Canfora estimates that costs have continued to accelerate, and the Titans could fetch close to $2 billion.

Granted, the Browns too have appreciated in value and would net a nice profit for Haslam if he sold. Still, a smart businessman would want to pocket the appreciation rather than sink it into a similar asset with comparable ROI.

While Haslam has enough money to own the Browns, he may not have enough to outbid Tepper, Smith or other billionaires who want to join the NFL ownership ranks. Forbes estimates Haslam’s worth at $2.8 billion. While that’s Scrooge McDuck money to the unwashed masses, it pales in comparison to Tepper’s estimated worth of $10.4 billion or Smith’s $3.8 billion.

Moreover, Haslam already owns an NFL team. It doesn’t make financial sense for him to attempt an outbid of Tepper and Smith when he has fewer resources and is already a member of the exclusive NFL owners club.

It’s a fun story that would yield wonderful headlines, but it’s very difficult to see Haslam maneuvering his way from the Browns to the Titans. Already, a spokesperson for Cleveland called the rumors “careless speculation,” about as strongly worded as such denials can get. It seems overwhelmingly more likely that one of the big fish without a controlling stake in an NFL team, not Haslam, will pony up the cash to acquire the Titans.

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