Team Owners Finances

Victor Kiam's future as owner of the New England Patriots remained unclear as he faced a deadline today for paying his minority partner $38 million or possibly losing the team. Lawyers for Kiam and Fran Murray, who owns 49% of the NFL club have been trying to work out an agreement for several weeks. Spokesmen for Robert Popeo, Murray's attorney, and Earle Cooley, Kiam's attorney, said the lawyers were tied up in a meeting all afternoon.

The National Football League players' strike of 1987, soon to be forgotten amid a week of Super Bowl hype, had a staggering impact on the league's financial picture. Data obtained by The Times indicate that the strike cost the owners more than $104 million in potential income. The players' losses, all from unpaid salaries, total $84 million. In addition, the strike, coupled with two costly lawsuits, left only 7 of 28 NFL teams as moneymakers. Every NFL team made less money in 1987 than in 1986.