December 23, 2004

Pigskin greenbacks

As if to make up for the conclusion of MLB's Expos relocation saga, yesterday was stadium-rumor day for the NFL, with several teams rattling various kinds of sabers:

• NFL commish Paul Tagliabue told an L.A. Times reporter during a trip to Iraq - hey, they play football in Iraq, sort of - that he was displeased with the New Orleans Saints' stadium situation, saying it "doesn't look like it's any better today than it was a year ago. If anything, it looks worse." A Louisiana official dismissed Tagliabue's remarks as "another tactic to apply pressure to the state." Gov. Kathleen Blanco is expected to make another stadium-renovation pitch next month to Saints owner Tom Benson, who is one of several owners rumored to be looking at moving to Los Angeles if his stadium demands aren't met.
• The New York Giants have opened talks with new New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey on a new $700 million stadium at the Meadowlands sports complex. Giants officials say they'd cover the entire construction cost if they can receive all revenues from the stadium; the state's role would be limited to providing the land, which the Giants might pay rent on. It sounds too good to be true - one unnamed local official pointedly compared it to "a certain other NFL team in a certain NFL city that's talking about figures that are astronomically higher" - and it would take an awful lot of new revenue to cover debt payments on $700 million, especially since the NFL's stadium loan fund wouldn't cover any of the bill. (The NFL will only help fund projects where there's a significant public share.) This one bears watching.
• Indiana lawmakers may be concerned about Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson's $700 million public funding proposal for a new Colts stadium, but Colts owner Jim Irsay says the real victim is being overlooked: Colts owner Jim Irsay, who would be forced to give up his current lease provision that guarantees the Colts' revenue will be above the league median. "I'm giving up hundreds of millions of dollars of guarantees and committing $100 million to the project with no guarantees," said Irsay, who would be getting $52 million from the NFL toward the project in addition to nearly $700 million from the city. "There's no question that this is a risk for us and my franchise, but when the day was done I was willing to go forward and I was excited about it." Added Irsay: "I would have preferred a deal like Cincinnati, where there was no contribution from the club. I couldn't get that." You know, times are tough all over.

This site written and maintained by Neil deMause. Copyright © Neil deMause, all rights reserved.

Powered by Movable Type 3.2.