Goodell: Working to get Titans under ‘proper ownership structure’

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is working with the Titans organization to “ensure the team is under the proper ownership structure.”

Goodell met with the ownership family this week at the NFL meetings in Phoenix.

Dialogue had been taking place between the two sides even before the group’s recent shift in the family-owned team, and it’s expected to continue.

Following the death of long-time owner K.S. “Bud” Adams in October 2013, ownership in the franchise was divided up among members of his family. Recently, the relatives agreed to make a change in who would represent the club on league matters.

“This is something we have been working on since Mr. Adams passed away,’’ Goodell said on Wednesday from the owners meetings. “We want to ensure that the team is under the proper ownership structure, as well as making sure it is being represented properly not only in Nashville and the Tennessee market, but also at the league level.

“We take it very seriously, the votes of every club. Each club is certainly dependent on the others to make informed decisions and one with a long-term view towards what’s best for the league and what’s best for the franchises.”

Susie Adams Smith and Amy Adams Strunk, daughters of Bud Adams, have 33 percent ownership each of the parent company which owns the Titans, and the family of Adams’ deceased son, Kenneth Adams III, also has one-third ownership — his grandsons, Kenneth IV (11 percent) and Barclay Cunningham Adams (11 percent), and their mother, Susan Lewis (11 percent).

Following Adams’ death, Susie Adams Smith was appointed controlling owner of the team by other family members, and Tommy Smith was named president/CEO of the franchise.

At the time, the NFL signed off on the provisional agreement unless other owners withdrew their consent.

More recently, the family consensus that Susie Adams Smith should be the controlling owner began eroding, contributing to Tommy Smith's retirement after 17 months on the job.

Amy Adams Strunk has since been designated as the owner who represents the family, and she sat in and voted at the league meetings this week in Arizona.

Amy Adams Strunk, Susie Adams Smith and Kenneth IV, who is on the team’s board of directors, all took part on the meeting with Goodell, along with Bob McNair, chairman of the league’s finance committee.

Steve Underwood, named interim president/CEO, also attended the league meetings on behalf of the club. He’s in charge of hiring a new president/CEO who will be based in Nashville. Amy Adams Strunk and Kenneth Adams IV remained in Arizona for the meetings throughout the week as representatives of the organization.

Underwood told The Tennessean the family has no intentions of selling the team, and indicated family members are committed to making the on-field product better in Nashville following a 2-14 season.

Among other things, the league needs to approve Amy Adams Strunk as the controlling owner, and the NFL’s finance committee is currently not in agreement with the team’s ownership structure and has asked the team to make adjustments.

“There is a commitment,’’ Goodell said. “I met with the ownership … (and) they understand our priorities and what needs to get done and we’ll continue to work with them with our finance committee.”

Reach Jim Wyatt at 259-8015 or on Twitter @jwyattsports