The NFL has had concerns about Titans ownership since the 2013 passing of franchise founder Bud Adams, who bequeathed equal parts of the team to daughter Amy Adams Strunk and two other heirs. That left the franchise without a true controlling owner (though Strunk has taken the reins), which led the league to hit Strunk with a six-figure fine last year when the Titans remained in violation of NFL rules.
The Titans still haven’t rectified their ownership situation, and now one of Strunk’s fellow heirs, sister Susie Adams Smith, is selling her share of the team’s parent company, Houston-based KSA industries. That stake includes her one-third ownership of the Titans. Forbes values Smith’s piece of the team at approximately $660MM, writes Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg.
Smith’s decision to sell “will not impact team operations in any way,” announced Strunk, who added that “I will continue to serve as the controlling owner of the Titans. The remaining two-thirds of the team controlled by myself, Kenneth Adams IV, Barclay Adams and Susan Lewis is not and has never been for sale.”
While Strunk is confident in how the Titans are currently operating, Smith’s move to relinquish her share only complicates an already complex situation, a source told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. There’s an “impasse” among the three Adams families, per Florio, who notes that the league’s desire continues to be for one faction to have clear control over the franchise. Therefore, with Smith soon exiting the picture in favor of an outside party, the league could make an aggressive push for the Titans to finally solve their ownership situation, according to Florio.