Rigas Ownership In Doubt

Pittsburgh The owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates have rejected a revised bid from John Rigas to buy the team, television station KDKA-TV reported.

Rigas, the cable TV entrepreneur with major league baseball’s permission to negotiate a purchase, increased his initial $80 million offer Friday. He and city officials said the new bid was worth nearly $90 million.

However, the Pirates said Rigas proposed no extra cash for the owners but instead offered stock in the team and a pledge to try to find other investors who want to buy their stock.

KDKA-TV reported that the public-private consortium that owns the Pirates rejected the new bid in a conference call over the weekend. Talks are scheduled to continue.