NEW YORK -- Officials for the New Jersey Generals said Monday they are negotiating the sale of the U.S. Football League club.
At least three potential buyers have negotiated with J. Walter Duncan, the Oklahoma oil tycoon and club owner, a team spokesman said.
Among them was New York attorney Lonn Berney, who told UPI Monday he purchased the team for $9 million and plans to move it to Brooklyn by the 1985 season. However, Berney's claim was not confirmed by the Generals or the USFL.
'I know he has claimed that,' USFL spokesman Doug Kelly said. 'But we have not heard anything definite.'
'No deal has been signed,' Generals Director Kevin MacConnell said. '(Generals coach and president Chuck Fairbanks) said when the time comes, he will talk with everybody.'
MacConnell said the Generals have a 20-year lease with Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., which would make a move to Brooklyn difficult. The league also must approve any franchise shifts.
When told Berney intends to move the team, Kelly said: 'I don't know about that.'
Houston Astros owner Dr. John McMullen and Madison Square Garden also have been reportedly interested in the Generals.
The Generals finished 6-12 in the inaugural USFL season after the controversial signing of 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker to a $5 million contract.
The Generals averaged more than 35,000 a game this season, second best in the league.
