Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam could be in danger of losing his franchise, thanks to reports that his business, Pilot Flying J, is facing a $4 billion debt.
Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Terry Pluto recently penned an article that referenced The Wall Street Journal, which mentioned Haslam's struggling company. Pluto wrote, "Standard and Poor's Corp. is a financial services company that provides research on stocks and bonds. Yes, nearly every NFL owner turns a profit every year, and that may be true of the Browns. But all that debt? It is indeed 'significant,' as reported by Standard and Poor's."
Haslam has also been dogged by a federal investigation of Pilot Flying J, when their Knoxville facilities were raided, according to reports. Two employees pled guilty to mail fraud charges, and copped deals in exchange for helping the feds build a case against other executives. Later, two more employees pled guilty.
An FBI affidavit seemed to implicate a high-ranking executive of Pilot Flying J of participating in a scheme that shorted trucking companies of fuel rebates. This executive is believed to be a company vice president.
When news of Pilot Flying J's indiscretions went national, a spokeswoman released a statement that said, "We are disappointed in the actions of these employees towards our customers. We assure our customers that our five-step plan to correct any wrongdoing and to make certain these actions do not happen again is ongoing, and that our customers' confidence in the vast majority of our 23,000 team members nationwide remains well-placed."
Many believe the debt won't have much impact on the Browns in the short-term. Pluto mentioned this in his column, saying, "He does have veteran NFL executive Joe Banner to run the team's daily operations, and that helps. Banner has hired a strong coaching staff, especially the experienced coordinators to help rookie head coach Rob Chudzinski. In the short term, Haslam's problems have no impact on the football team. But long term, who knows?"
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