Report: Clancy To Withdraw Vikes Bid

May 19, 1998 / 10:46 PM EDT / AP

Author Tom Clancy is withdrawing his bid to buy the Minnesota Vikings, according to a newspaper report Tuesday. But Clancy's main adviser in the purchase disputed the report.

A source close to Clancy told the Saint Paul Pioneer Press that Clancy plans to advise the NFL of his decision Wednesday in a letter to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

Clancy's adviser, Marc Ganis, disputed the report Tuesday night.

"As far as I know, it's not true," Ganis told The Associated Press.

The bid was already in jeopardy when Clancy and Ganis skipped a meeting with the NFL's finance committee Monday night in Coral Gables, Fla. They had been scheduled to present their plan to buy the Vikings to the nine-member committee, a crucial step in gaining league acceptance.

Ganis told the AP that he was drawing up a new purchase proposal and hoped to present it to the NFL by the close of business Wednesday and to the Vikings board on Friday.

"We're working on a restructuring that meets the league's criteria," Ganis said. "I can't say exactly right now what that restructuring would look like."

Asked whether Clancy would still be part of the deal, he said, "I would hope so."

Jim Jundt, one of the Vikings' 10 principal owners, has said the deal would be off if Clancy were not the majority owner.