Despite the continuing denials of owner Red McCombs, there are increasing indications that the Minnesota Vikings could soon be sold, possibly before the end of the 2002 season, several league sources confirmed for ESPN.com.

Two league sources agreed Saturday that McCombs has intensified efforts to deal the winless Vikings, but declined to confirm published reports that he is considering offers from two separate Twin Cities suitors.

One NFL team owner, who for personal reasons has maintained very keen interest in the potential sale of the Vikings, characterized the situation as "on a much faster track" now. One source in the brokerage community, who has knowledge of the innerworkings of the Minnesota sale, said that assessment was a "pretty accurate" one.

Both the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reported in their Saturday editions that McCombs could be moving closer to a sale. But McCombs, who bought the team in 1998 for the bargain price of $246 million, for the second time in less than two months denied the reports.

"There is no truth to any of the stories that are circulating," McCombs said in a statement that was issued from his San Antonio offices. "There are no discussions taking place regarding the sale of the team."

That said, McCombs is believed to have reduced his asking price for the club, from $600 million to less than $500 million. At least two groups, one led by Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor and the other comprised of investors in the Minnesota Wild, have indicated considerable interest in acquiring the Vikings.

There have even been reports the owners of the NBA and NFL franchises might join forces to pursue the Vikings. It is believed that both groups have obtained access to the Vikings' financial records through JP Morgan Chase, the firm hired by McCombs to seek potential new owners. A league official denied an internet report that Taylor had reached agreement to buy the team from McCombs for $450 million.

Taylor was the runner-up to McCombs when the Vikings were sold in the summer of 1998.

His denials aside, it is clear to many NFL owners that McCombs is strongly positioned now to exit the league, and the emphasis has been on identifying local owners who would keep the team in Minnesota.

McCombs has a track record of purchasing sports franchises, holding them for a relatively short period, and then dealing them. McCombs owned the NBA's San Antonio Spurs on two separate occasions, his longest tenure for nine years, and owned the Denver Nuggets for four years.

He has been frustrated in his efforts to secure a new stadium for the Vikings and, more recently, by the team's poor performance on the field. In addition, the slumping economy has not been kind to McCombs, who was worth over $2 billion two years ago, but who has seen his fortune shrink to roughly $1.2 billion now. He announced two months ago that he would sell more than half his holdings in Clear Channel Communications, which owns television and radio stations across the country.

In the most recent valuation of the Vikings by Forbes Magazine, a ranking often vehemently disputed by NFL owners, the team's worth was appraised at $437 million, the sixth lowest in the league.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.