November 15, 2003
NFL stadium fund running dry
The four football teams pitching new stadiums - the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, and San Diego Chargers - could be fighting for a a dwindling pool of NFL funding, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The league's "G-3" program, adopted in 1999 to help prevent the hemorrhage of clubs to smaller markets (and to help G-3 creator Robert Kraft get stadium money for his New England Patriots), lets teams keep luxury box revenues normally shared with visiting teams and use them to pay off stadium construction costs. However, reports the Star Trib, recent changes to the G-3 program have left it with only $150 million remaining, a figure that either the Jets or Cowboys could easily drain on their own. This could get very interesting...
