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Referendums Bat .500 On Election Day: The up-and-down record of stadium and arena referendums the past couple of years continued on Election Day, as voters in San Antonio and Scottsdale approved publicly funded arena deals, while those in St. Paul nixed a proposed stadium, and Houston voted down a new arena.

In San Antonio, where the Spurs owners poured more than $2.1 million into the campaign for a new arena -- opponents raised less than a fifth that amount -- voters approved the measure by a 60-40 margin. Bexar County will now spend $146.5 million in hotel and car rental tax money on the new 18,500-seat arena, to open in 2002. (The Spurs will pay just $28.5 million of the construction costs).

Across the state in Houston, pro-arena forces likewise outspent opponents by a 5-1 margin, but the result was far different: voters rejected plans for a $160 million arena for the Rockets (with costs to be evenly split between the city and team owner Les Alexander) by a 55%-45% margin. Cox News Service, while not citing any sources, has reported that Alexander contacted the city of Baltimore about possibly moving his team there.

In Scottsdale and the neighboring cities of Fountain Hills and Guadalupe, voters approved using $200 million in state and local sales tax money to build a $535 million shopping complex centered around an 18,000-seat hockey arena for the Phoenix Coyotes. Construction will begin once the mall is demolished, probably not until 2001.

Finally, St. Paul, Minnesota rejected by a 58%-42% margin spending $216 million in state and local public funds on a new ballpark for the Minnesota Twins, currently across the river in Minneapolis. St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman appeared ready to accept defeat, saying that "in this business you have to live with the voice of the people, and in this case the people have spoken." Twins owner Carl Pohlad was less sanguine: "I can't believe any city would turn us down," said Pohlad, who has previously had stadium plans rejected by voters in Minneapolis and in the Triad region of North Carolina. Despite being outspent by $327,000 to $13,000, facing pro-ballpark editorials in both local newspapers (not to mention Midwest Sports Channel, which over the previous month ran replays of great games in Twins history to support the ballpark vote), and the use of former Twins star Kirby Puckett in the stadium campaign, opponents carried the day in a race with unexpectedly high turnout. "We're all excited and giddy," Progressive Minnesota director Jennifer Smith told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "They spent so much money, and we spent so little."

Though Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton still backs a plan to use county sales tax money to build a baseball park in her city, the lopsided vote could spell doom for both the Twins' and the Vikings' hopes for publicly funded stadiums, as an already-cautious legislature is expected to table all sports subsidy discussion for the time being. "There's no appetite for it all," said Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe. "I think the overwhelming emphasis is going to be, what can you build with private financing,'' added Bill Lester, executive director of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. "It seems to me the pressure will be to do it like they did in San Francisco." . . .

The San Diego Chargers will play the 1999 season rent-free, thanks to a ticket sales guarantee agreed to by the city of San Diego in 1996. After spending about $10 million on unsold tickets over the first three years of the ten-year agreement with the team, the city has already been forced by plunging attendance to deplete its $5 million ticket reserve fund, and will now begin tapping Qualcomm Stadium's operating budget. . . . Meanwhile, opponents of the planned $411 million Padres stadium have announced plans to petition for a recall initiative, on the grounds that the project's financing plan has changed since voters approved it last fall. If they can collect 60,000 signatures by next May, the issue could go back before voters in the fall. . . .

The wave of modern sports facility construction could be leading to an unexpected problem for teams: a luxury box glut. According to U.S. News & World Report, teams moving into new stadiums are finding it harder to sell suite leases to corporations as the market becomes saturated. "Ten-year leases are becoming five-year leases, which are becoming three-year leases," Bill Dorsey, executive director of the Association of Luxury Suite Directors told the magazine. . . . The L.A. Times scandal (see October 29 news item) continues to grow, with the revelation in the L.A. New Times (the paper that first broke the story) that the Times publisher has been placating advertisers upset by its reporting by giving them seats in the paper's Staples Center luxury box. . . .

The Arizona Cardinals have given Gov. Jane Hull's stadium task force their wish list for a new home: a retractable-roofed facility with 67,000 seats, 94 luxury suites, and a movable grass field. Price tag (not including land acquisition): $329 million. . . . The city council of Kanata, Ontario, has agreed to give the Ottawa Senators a 75 percent subsidy on their yearly $450,000 local tax bill. Senators owner Rob Bryden is demanding property tax breaks from the provincial and regional governments as well. . . . The Carolina Hurricanes, who moved from Hartford two years ago because they claimed they couldn't be profitable enough there, have lost a reported $75 million in their first two seasons in the South, and are far short of the 15,000-per-game projected break-even attendance. "The Carolina move was suspect right from the beginning," sports consultant Dean Bonham told the New York Times. . . .

Several hundred Brooklyn residents and youth soccer players marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall on November 21 to protest the city's plans to put a temporary Mets minor-league stadium in the Parade Grounds, a public park. Counting temporary and permanent facilities, Mayor Rudy Giuliani has now committed nearly $100 million for minor-league stadiums -- almost as much as the city's entire annual parks maintenance budget. "Until now, Giuliani hasn't even managed to rake the leaves or cut the grass in the Parade Grounds," soccer parent Tom Parker said before marching. "He's going to have a hard time getting elected to the Senate if he can't even do simple yard work." Later that week, a judge granted a temporary restraining order against the project, agreeing with plaintiffs that the city had not conducted proper community review. --November 28, 1999

Vote Early And Often: As Election Day approaches, it's once again down to the wire for several arena and stadium votes. This year, sports funding referendums are on the ballot in St. Paul, Minnesota, San Antonio, Texas, Scottsdale, Arizona, and Houston, Texas, with nearly $1 billion in public money at stake:

The owners of the San Antonio Spurs owners want a new basketball arena for their NBA champion squad badly enough that they have poured an estimated $5 million into their campaign for a yes vote in next week's referendum. The referendum would authorize $146 million in public money -- via a hike in the county's hotel occupancy and car rental taxes -- to pay for 84 percent of the construction costs of a new arena.

It's not the first time new majority owner Peter Holt has pushed the region for a new publicly funded facility to replace the six-year-old Alamodome. An attempt to use public money to fund a facility at an abandoned quarry site failed last year, and lingering voter bitterness over the sales tax raise that funded the Alamodome seems to have inspired the team and county to agree to a "tourist" tax. The Spurs, who would see virtually all revenue from the arena except for the 22 days it's occupied by the rodeo, have promised to put up only $28.5 million.

After pleading economic difficulty and a lack of a first-class facility, the Spurs have suggested that a new is necessary to be impossible to resign superstar player Tim Duncan. The arena plan's lead in the polls has slipped in recent weeks, with pollsters now calling the race too close to call. . . .

The October 7 announcement that Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor would buy the Twins if a November 2 stadium tax vote passes has had seemingly no effect on opposition to St. Paul's upcoming referendum on building a new baseball stadium with $217 million in state and local tax money. The latest polls show St. Paul residents opposing the stadium tax by a 56%-30% margin. According to Elysian Fields Quarterly publisher Tom Goldstein on the Field of Schemes e-mail list, "The latest tactic is 'sandlot baseball games' featuring some former Twins players like Paul Molitor, Kent Hrbek, and Tony Oliva. The first was last week, and of the people I talked to, at least half said they were against the sales tax, but came for free hot dogs and autographs." . . .

The third scheduled vote is in Arizona, where voters in Scottsdale, Fountain Hills and Guadalupe will decide the fate of the proposed $535 million Los Arcos Mall arena project for the Phoenix Coyotes. For the latter two towns -- neighbors of Scottsdale that were included in the vote only to meet a state requirement -- there is an added inducement: the Coyotes have offered to pay them $1 million apiece if the arena is approved. . . . Lastly, Houston is set to vote on a new $160 million basketball arena to replace the 24-year-old Compaq Center. NBA commissioner David Stern warned that the Rockets might move if the arena vote fails: "It's not constructive to issue ultimatums, but everybody understands what's at stake here." . . .

Next up for a sports subsidy vote could be Miami, where new Florida Marlins owner (and billionaire) John Henry, who bought the team from former owner (and billionaire) Wayne Huizenga this summer, is asking for $300 million in public subsidies for a planned $400 million baseball-only park. A recent poll found Broward County voters overwhelmingly opposed to using public money for a new Marlins stadium, regardless of whether property taxes or hotel and rental car taxes were used. . . . The Seattle Mariners are withholding their final $4 million payment on Safeco Field, leaving subcontractors in the lurch. The Mariners are demanding that the state pay for $60 million worth of cost overruns on the $517 million facility. . . .

The NFL announced October 6 that it was pulling the planned expansion franchise from Los Angeles, which had refused the league's demand for $150 million in public money for a new or refurbished stadium. Instead, the 32nd NFL team will go to Houston, which has already committed $195 million in public funds for a retractable-roofed football-only stadium to replace the Astrodome. As one L.A.-area resident summed up local reaction in the Orange County Register: "It's OK, because a lot of people here don't really care." . . . One year after approving public funding for a new San Diego Padres stadium, almost 60 percent of San Diegans oppose use of public funds for buildings within the ballpark district. Financing for the stadium project may be in jeopardy, as a planned a hotel on the Campbell Shipyard property, which is to provide 23 percent of the revenues for ballpark construction, has had difficulty finding a developer. Local activists are considering asking to resubmit the deal to voters in another referendum. . . .

The publisher of the L.A. Times has apologized for agreeing to share $2 million in ad revenue from a Sunday magazine special issue on the Staples Center -- with the Staples Center. Times Publisher Kathryn Downing blamed her "fundamental misunderstanding" of editorial principles. Though Times officials insisted that the editorial staff had put together the magazine without interference, other reports told of an ad exec barging into the newsroom to demand that the Staples Center be referred to simply as "Staples Center" (its corporate owners' preference). "This would never have happened in the old days," one veteran Times reporter told the L.A. New Times. "Talk about the walls between advertising and editorial crashing down." --October 29, 1999

Know When To Fold 'Em: Rumors continue to fly that Major League Baseball is considering folding as many as four low-revenue franchises -- candidates include the Royals, A's, Expos, and Twins -- and divvying up their players among the remaining 26 teams. Sports Illustrated first reported in August that Colorado Rockies owner Jerry McMorris and several unnamed owners were "quietly discussing" such a plan. The possibility was soon front-page news in the cities rumored to be targeted, even as many observers boggled at the huge costs of buying out existing owners; Tulane sports law professor Gary Roberts called the proposal "a legal nightmare," "a public-relations disaster" and "economically stupid."

The flames were further fanned when, after a yearlong process to find new owners who would agree to keep the A's in Oakland through 2004, baseball owners stunned city officials September 15 by voting 28-2 to table discussion of the $122.4 million proposed sale to Andy Dolich and Bob Piccinini. With a sale deadline (set by the team) just a week away, the sale was apparently dead, and the team free to seek out-of-town buyers.

How much effect the vote really had, though, is unclear. The A's' current lease binds them to Oakland until 2001, and it's unlikely another city could build a major-league stadium much before 2004 in any case. Moreover, the list of suitors for new baseball teams has grown incredibly slim: While such cities as Las Vegas, Charlotte, and Sacramento have been rumored relocation sites for existing teams, none has expressed much enthusiasm for the likely half-billion-dollar investment in a new ballpark that would be necessary. . . .

Bill and Nancy Laurie, heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune (and owners of the St. Louis Blues hockey franchise) have reached an agreement to buy the Vancouver Grizzlies for about $200 million, leading to concerns that they will try to move the team to St. Louis. NBA commissioner David Stern took an uncharacteristically strong (for a sports commissioner) stance against any move, saying, "It's not unprecedented for an NBA team to move, but on the other hand when you place a franchise someplace, you ask the fans to make a certain commitment to the team. And it's not inappropriate for the fans to expect the team to have some commitment to them." . . .

Negotiations for a new arena for the Houston Rockets and Comets basketball teams broke down on August 24, with one member of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority negotiating team saying, "The deal is dead, real dead." Houston Mayor Lee Brown, however, said talks were continuing. The sports authority has offered $50 million toward a new $150 million arena; the team's owner, Les Alexander, wants more public funds. . . . To the south, Bexar County has approved a $175 million plan to construct a new arena for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs next to the existing Freeman Coliseum. Next up: A November 2 referendum to ask voters to approve hotel and car rental tax hikes to pay for the project. . . .

The Seattle Mariners sold out 26 of their first 37 games at new Safeco Field, but a poorly attended series against the lowly Kansas City Royals has some wondering if the novelty effect has already begun to wear off. "We are not assuming any honeymoon [next season]," team spokesperson Randy Adamack told the Seattle Times. The Texas Rangers have likewise seen attendance tail off this year, their sixth in The Ballpark at Arlington, despite a first-place team. . . . The National Hockey League has asked the Canadian government for a share of national lottery money, saying that with government aid, "some of the Canadian clubs will find it impossible to operate in Canada." The NHL wants $34 million a year -- equal to 20 percent of hockey-related lottery ticket proceeds in Canada. . . .

The Los Angeles city council has approved a resolution not to use existing tax revenues for a new football stadium for an NFL expansion franchise. (However, the council left the door open for the use of tax increment financing.) The NFL's plan to expand to L.A. could be all but dead, and the league is expected to instead consider Houston for its 32nd team. . . . The new San Diego Padres ballpark project may be in trouble, as developers are having problems securing financing for the planned hotels that are intended to help pay off the stadium bonds. San Diego has already been informed that selling bonds without shoring up the financing will lead to a downgrading of the municipal bond rating, which could dramatically increase the city's cost of borrowing money. . . .

While other teams are abandoning old stadiums for expensive new playpens, the Montreal Alouettes team in the Canadian Football League have been happily selling out the 85-year-old,19,641-seat Percival Molson Stadium since moving there from modern Olympic Stadium in 1997. "If Montreal is any indication, Canadians much prefer weathered wood, wineskins, stadium blankets and traffic noise to a faceless slab of concrete," writes Vancouver Sun reporter Mike Beamish. The Toronto Argonauts are reportedly considering a similar move, from the cavernous SkyDome to the University of Toronto's venerable Varsity Stadium. . . .

The opening of the Milwaukee Brewers' new Miller Park has been officially postponed until April 2001. With construction work set back by July's fatal crane accident, there was no way to hire enough workers to complete the new building by next spring as planned. Meanwhile, two African-American stadium board members are objecting to the board's decision to exempt the $50 million to $75 million of repair work from affirmative action guidelines. . . . Fans at the last-ever game at Tiger Stadium on September 27 booed lustily whenever Comerica Park, the new stadium opening next spring, was mentioned. Also jeered were Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer and Michigan Governor John Engler, two prime backers of the new facility. --October 6, 1999

St. Paul Stadium Plan Stumbles Ahead: There will be yet another stadium referendum in Minnesota this fall. This one will take place in St. Paul, whose mayor Norm Coleman led a petition drive to get a new Twins ballpark plan on the November ballot. Under Coleman's plan, the city, state, and team would each put up one-third of the cost of a $325 million open-air stadium, with the state's portion to be "repaid" out of taxes collected at the ballpark (similar to the plan approved by the Pennsylvania legislature in February -- see 3/18/99 news item). Both the state legislature and Gov. Jesse Ventura remain opposed, with the governor remarking that the Metrodome is 60 years younger than the Minneapolis building where he attended high school: "When I see a new Roosevelt High School -- which is 77 years old -- then we'll talk about it.'' A recent poll of state residents found 80 percent opposition to using public money for a Twins ballpark. . . . Meanwhile, Vikings owner Red McCombs has likewise decided that the 17-year-old Metrodome is too ancient for his team, and is stumping for a new $400 million facility -- $300 million of which would be provided by the public. Wondered Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Doug Grow, "Do the Vikings really think Minnesotans are going to be any more excited about giving money to McCombs, who has $1.8 billion, than they are about giving it to Twins owner Carl Pohlad, who has $1.5 billion?" . . .

The July 14 crane accident that killed three construction workers and left debris scattered across the Milwaukee Brewers' half-built Miller Park looks to have delayed the park's opening to at least next July. While insurance is expected to cover the costs of cleaning up and completing the $400 million stadium, work has ground to a standstill, and steel for the roof sections destroyed in the crane collapse must now be reordered. . . . San Antonio Mayor Howard Peak has proposed a November referendum on an eighth-of-a-cent sales tax hike to fund a $203 million arena for the Spurs. Last winter, a local school board blocked plans to build an arena using tax increment financing (TIF) funds. . . . The Montreal Expos are still working out a financing plan for their proposed ballpark, with their latest plan being for $75 million in seat-license fees, plus a $100 million loan from the province. Stadium architects HOK have been hired by Major League Baseball to evaluate construction bids. The Expos are hoping for a no-frills outdoor ballpark, and HOK reports that Kansas City's well-liked Kauffman Stadium could be built today for $115 million (plus land costs) -- leading to the obvious question of why other teams need ballparks that cost as much as $500 million. . . .

The Boston Red Sox are running ads on game telecasts featuring computer-generated flybys of their proposed new ballpark, and promising "seats that are closer to the field, not to the fan next to you." Calls to the Red Sox office of non-Euclidian geometry were not returned. . . . Meanwhile, a cost estimate commissioned by the activist group Save Fenway Park! for its "Hagenah plan" to renovate and expand the Red Sox' current ballpark came in at $281 million, which would be $70 million less than the team's projections for a new stadium. . . .

Bill Chadwick, appointed by California Gov. Gray Davis to be the state's chief negotiator on a new football stadium in Los Angeles, resigned August 5 in frustration with NFL demands for more public money. Chadwick had offered to build $150 million in parking facilities at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in exchange for $2.5 million to $5 million in yearly rent payments; NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue responded by asking for more cash. "I have told the governor about what I think happened here and we shouldn't be negotiating with ourselves," said Chadwick. "Until we hear from the NFL, my usefulness is over." . . . The New York Times has reported that Disney is looking to sell the Anaheim Angels, just two years after purchasing the baseball team. Plans for a regional ESPN West cable network, centered on the Angels and the Disney-owned Anaheim Mighty Ducks, were scrapped last year. . . . Casino mogul Steve Wynn is looking to bring either NHL hockey or NBA basketball to the desert of Las Vegas. His only request: a new arena paid for entirely with public money. . . .

Seattle Mariners superstar Ken Griffey Jr. lashed out at reports that team management was warning that they would have to trade either Griffey or teammate Alex Rodriguez unless the state paid cost overruns on Safeco Field. Griffey told the Tacoma News Tribune, "Every time money comes up with ownership, it's Junior and Alex's fault? Neither one of us has demanded a thing. We haven't asked for a trade or a renegotiation. We have contracts and we're honoring them." . . . The 7,000 stockholders who attended the Green Bay Packers' annual meeting at Lambeau Field on July 7 got the word that their cherished stadium may not be long for this world. Team president Bob Harlan said the Packers need either a new or refurbished stadium to increase revenues, adding, "We're going to need public support." Harlan did not say how much of the estimated $125 million to $300 million construction cost he would ask taxpayers to pick up. --August 11, 1999

The Stadium That Wouldn't Die: Somebody get Minnesota a wooden stake. Just when it looked like the Twins' stadium demands were dead for good, in the last week both St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman and Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton have issued proposals for building new baseball parks in their respective cities. (Each would be funded primarily by a county-wide sales tax; Coleman's plan would also require $100 million in state money.) The public Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which runs the Metrodome, followed with plans for refurbishing the Metrodome for either baseball or football only, under the assumption that the Twins or the Vikings would be getting new digs elsewhere. Gov. Jesse Ventura responded by offering to set up a fund to which citizens could voluntarily contribute their state tax rebate checks, to be used for a stadium. He said he doesn't intend to donate money himself, but predicted that "a check'll be flying in" from the mayor of St. Paul. . . .

The Seattle Mariners formally asked for an additional $100 million in public financing for their all-but-completed Safeco Field on June 22. The team's owners explained that their promise to pay "all cost overruns" on the stadium project (planned at $417 million, but now well over $500 million) in fact meant that they would "make up the difference, if any, after all other available funds had been spent." The Washington State Public Facilities District board, unappreciative of the niceties of sports finance doubletalk, rejected the request by unanimous vote without discussion. . . .

The New York Islanders may have broken new ground in the search for a new arena: Trade your players for one. That's what the New York Post reports the team attempted last week, offering to send star forward Ziggy Palffy to the New York Rangers in exchange for two players, a draft pick -- and an agreement by Cablevision, the Rangers' corporate parent to form a partnership to finance a new arena, in order to "blackmail the county into building an arena, or risk losing the team to either Queens or Suffolk County." The Rangers declined. . . . New Orleans Saints Tom Benson has warned that renaming the Superdome after late Governor John McKeithen instead of selling naming rights to a corporation could put the city at risk of losing the team. . . . A bill by Pennsylvania State Rep. Andrew Carn to submit Philadelphia's stadium plans to a non-binding regional referendum fell four votes short in the state legislature. . . .

Boston Red Sox stadium consultant Joseph Tierney has taken on a new job description for himself: ticket salesperson. Three Boston city councilors say they were asked by Tierney, a former council president, if they wanted to buy tickets for the upcoming All-Star Game at Fenway Park at face value, courtesy of the Red Sox. Tickets for the sold-out game have been scalping for as much as 25 times their face value, and the city council will soon be faced with voting on a new Red Sox ballpark. . . . Meanwhile, San Diego Mayor Susan Golding has been charged with "willful misconduct" by a county grand jury for allegedly agreeing to support a $4 million subsidy to the San Diego County Hotel-Motel Association in exchange for the association's backing of a new Padres ballpark. If convicted, Golding could be removed from office. --June 25, 1999

Arizona Splits Vote Doubleheader: In a pair of closely watched referendum votes held May 18, voters in Mesa, Arizona, rejected building a $1.8 billion football stadium complex for the Arizona Cardinals while nearby Scottsdale approved a $624 million arena project for the Phoenix Coyotes.

The Mesa project, which was to involve $385 million in public bonds to be paid back from a quarter-cent sales tax increase (plus additional tax increment financing for operating the facility), was rejected 60%-40% in heavy voter turnout. In Scottsdale, the Los Arcos Mall redevelopment, centered on $220 million in city and state financing for a new hockey arena, was approved 63%-37% by voters. However, Scottsdale voters must return to the polls this fall to approve using sales tax money generated at the new facility to help pay the city's share of construction costs. . . .

Two days after the activist group Save Fenway Park issued its plans for a renovation and expansion of the 87-year-old Fenway Park, the Boston Red Sox finally dropped the other shoe on their own stadium plans, issuing a lavish blueprint for a new, 44,000-seat ballpark to be built across Yawkey Way from the current Fenway. Under the team's proposal, most of the current ballpark would be demolished, save for the entrance gates (which would be incorporated into the new structure) and the Green Monster outfield wall, which would remain standing beyond the new outfield wall. The $545 million stadium still has no financing in place, and local property owners are expected to fight against any attempt to evict them to make way for a new ballpark. . . .

The Seattle Mariners' new Safeco Field is nearing completion, but more public subsidies for the project may still be on the way. Seems that when the team's owners brokered the deal that netted them $336 million in public subsidies for the stadium project, they agreed to pay all cost overruns -- but not "unanticipated capital costs." With the stadium now approximately $100 million over budget, the team is asking the state to refinance the ballpark bonds and use the proceeds to bail out the Mariners. If not, they warn, they won't be able to re-sign star shortstop Alex Rodriguez when he becomes eligible for free agency after the 2000 season. . . . The New York Islanders have taken a similar tack, with unnamed NHL sources telling Newsday that if a new arena deal is not in place by July 1, the team will start trading off its best (and highest-priced) players. . . . Vince Naimoli, whose Tampa Bay Devil Rays moved into Tropicana Field only last year, is denying reports that he will soon demand a new ballpark, possibly in suburban Hillsborough. Devil Rays' attendance is down 34 percent from their inaugural season. --May 25, 1999

Hartford Stadium Deal Collapses: Even as newspaper boxes across Connecticut blared the headline "DEAL IS STILL ALIVE," the official word came down: The deal to move the New England Patriots to Hartford was dead.

After meeting with Patriots owner Robert Kraft Thursday night, Gov. John Rowland had declared that "My goal and the Patriots' goal is to open the 2002 season here in Hartford. As I've said so many times before, it will happen. Failure is not an option." Yet the next afternoon, the Patriots officially notified Rowland of the "termination" of the deal.

Earlier in the week, Massachusetts elected officials reportedly agreed on an offer to keep the team in Foxboro, Mass. Under the reported plan, the state would spend $70 million on roads and sewers around a new stadium, which would be built next door to the current Foxboro Stadium by Kraft, with the help of money loaned to the team by the NFL. (The team would also pay the state $1.4 million a year in parking and user fees.)

The Massachusetts package pales in comparison to the planned $375 million stadium in Connecticut, but troubles with that project -- particularly environmental questions -- have continued to mount. This week it was revealed that planned retail space might have to be displaced to make room for the larger-than-expected stadium, and that the steam plant on the stadium site had severe asbestos problems. And in the hours before the deal was scrapped, consumer advocate Ralph Nader released a 14-page document outlining environmental problems at the Adriaen's Landing site.

"I'm six feet off the ground," said Donna Donovan, an activist with the citizen group Stop The Stadium, shortly after the news broke. "I just got seven phone calls from people I don't know saying, 'Thank you!' That makes it so worthwhile to me." And while the Hartford Courant's website featured a reader poll on whether the "blame" should placed on Rowland, Kraft, or the NFL, Donovan feels at least some of the credit should go to Stop The Stadium: "I really believe that if we hadn't forced disclosures about all the loose ends in this deal, it might not have fallen apart the way it did. I think everyone who carried our petition or signed a petition can take some credit for getting Connecticut back on track." . . .

Two local investor groups met an April 21 deadline for down payments on buying the Oakland A's -- but it's no guarantee the team will stay in Oakland. If approved by the city and Major League Baseball, either the group led by former A's exec Andy Dolich or the one headed by banker Lyle Campbell and former pitcher Steve Stone could move the A's as soon as the year 2005 -- and a new stadium, whether in Oakland or elsewhere, would likely take almost that long to build in any case. Former Yankees GM Bob Watson, who is part of the Campbell/Stone group, said last week that "The initial thought is to keep the team in the Bay Area," adding that they considered the Oakland Coliseum unacceptable for baseball and would prefer a new baseball-only park. . . .

Scottsdale, Arizona, scheduled to vote May 18 on the $624 million Los Arcos redevelopment project centered around a new arena for the Phoenix Coyotes, has been delivered an ultimatum: Put your money where your mouth is. The state senate voted April 27 to allow the project to use state sales tax revenues as planned, but only if the city coughs up matching funds to the tune of $100 million. Proponents of the arena had made a pledge of no new taxes a centerpiece of their campaign, and tempers have already begun to flare: a pro-arena councilman reported recently that he had received a message stating, "Remember what happened to Mary Rose Wilcox," in reference to the county supervisor who was shot in 1997 by a man angered by her support of public financing for the Arizona Diamondbacks' Bank One Ballpark. --May 1, 1999

Boston Back In Running For Pats?: Business leaders in Boston, led by former DNC boss Paul Kirk, are urging that city to jump back into the bidding for the New England Patriots by building a new stadium in the southern portion of the city. Mayor Thomas Menino has declared himself open to the idea, though still of the opinion that "the best site for the Patriots is at Foxboro stadium"; House Speaker Thomas Finneran, who was instrumental in blocking state funding for a new stadium in Foxboro, said he would be willing "to listen to any ideas which recognized and respected the principles which have been articulated in the House debates on this issue." The NFL, which would love to see the Patriots remain in Boston's large TV market, plans to send commissioner Paul Tagliabue to Boston on Friday to discuss possible stadium plans. . . .

Fenway Park is to blame for Boston Red Sox ticket prices, the highest in baseball, according to team VP John Buckley. The historic ballpark "hampers us" financially, Buckley told a group of business leaders on April 7. "If we could get a 45,000-seat ballpark in the city, I could assure you that ticket prices ... would fall back into the middle of the pack." No team in recent memory has lowered ticket prices after moving into a new stadium . . . Street vendors outside Fenway are angered that the Red Sox are restricting pushcarts to the far end of Yawkey Way, far from the main stadium entrances. Last December, the Sox tried to ban outright the street vendors -- some of whose peanut and sausage stands go back generations -- but later relented when the city agreed to close Yawkey Way to traffic on game days. . . .

The British Monopolies and Mergers Commission has blocked Rupert Murdoch's $1 billion purchase of the Manchester United soccer team, ruling that it would give Murdoch's BSkyB TV network an unfair competitive advantage, and would "damage the quality of British football," according to Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers. Independent Manchester United Supporters Association chairman Andy Walsh called the decision "a tremendous victory for the fans of Manchester United, [and] a victory for football." . . . Murdoch's Fox Group, owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers and part-owner of the New York Knicks and Rangers, is meanwhile apparently not interested in building a new stadium next to the Los Angeles Coliseum as part of attempts to lure an NFL expansion franchise, and will instead proceed with its planned renovation to add more luxury seating to Dodger Stadium. The Fox statement also noted, however, that "this program does not resolve the long-term issues that the Dodgers face," leading to speculation that demands for a new stadium could still be in the offing. . . .

The radio broadcast of the New York Yankees home opener turned into more of a wake, as first Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, then announcers Michael Kay and John Sterling touted the advantages of a new Yankee Stadium. After raving about a "beautiful" architectural drawing for a new ballpark along the Harlem River near the current stadium site (a drawing that has yet to surface in public), Kay opined that "Some people may want the current stadium to be refurbished, but what we're hearing is that it can't be refurbished. You saw last year when one of the joints came out -- it could be dangerous." That assessment came as a surprise to Beyer Blinder Belle, the architects that have drawn up plans for a $189 million restoration of the House That Ruth Built -- not to mention the city buildings department, which last year did a thorough inspection of the stadium and declared it fit to go for another 75 years. . . . Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, meanwhile, may be softening on his demands for a new ballpark, telling Crain's New York Business last week that he is considering a five-year extension (through 2007) on his Yankee Stadium lease, and adding that he might consider staying in The Bronx if the city "improves the living conditions for the people" in the surrounding area. . . .

The city council of Avondale, Arizona, agreed April 19 to join with nearby Scottsdale to form a financing district for a proposed hockey arena for the Phoenix Coyotes. The council called the vote an "emergency action" to prevent residents from seeking a referendum, a move that one local resident told the Arizona Republic was "another shady little deal from a slimy little town." The Coyotes and the arena developer had offered Avondale $1 million in cash in return for joining the arena district. . . . Scottsdale voters still must vote May 18 on the proposed $624 million Los Arcos hockey arena; the same day, residents of nearby Mesa will vote on a $1.8 billion convention center and football stadium complex for the Arizona Cardinals. . . .

The San Diego Padres are preparing to negotiate a two-year lease extension on Qualcomm Stadium before moving into their new $411 million city-funded ballpark -- and they could be asking for more public money in the meantime. Projecting "a couple million" dollars a year in losses as a result of the lucrative lease deal the San Diego Chargers (who share Qualcomm) signed in 1996, Padres officials are expected to seek lease concessions to make up the difference. . . . Add Columbia, S.C., to the list of cities being asked to front money for new buildings for their minor-league teams. The single-A level Capital City Bombers are asking the city for $15 million in bonds to build a 6,000-seat stadium with 15 to 18 luxury boxes. --April 20, 1999

Rowland Gets Steamed, Clears Stadium Site: Connecticut Governor John Rowland has pulled off another goal-line stand, this time against CTG Resources Inc. The company, whose steam plant and headquarters are occupy the site of the planned stadium for the New England Patriots, agreed on April 1 to relocate to an existing office building -- the move will be financed by $25 million from the Hartford business community, while the state Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority will provide power to CTG to replace that generated by the steam plant. CTG, which had been holding out for $48 million to build a replacement plant, agreed to the new plan one day before an April 2 deadline for the state to provide assurances to the Patriots that the stadium deal is moving ahead.

Rowland's previous last-minute deal -- convincing the state legislature to finance the $375 million stadium with state money last December -- is now being challenged by stadium opponents in state court. Calling the stadium deal "the most grandiose giveaway in state history," Stop The Stadium, the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, and a group of other plaintiffs have charged Rowland and Patriots owner Robert Kraft with illegally exempting the project from environmental, prevailing-wage, building-inspection, and public-hearing laws, as well as passing the stadium bill via an "emergency" session of the legislature when no actual emergency existed. (A federal lawsuit charging unconstitutional interference with interstate commerce is also expected to be filed.) A recent poll found that Connecticut residents now oppose the plan by a slim margin, 48%-45%, with support dropping 13 percentage points in the last three months. . . .

The San Diego city council, facing its own April 1 deadline to provide approval of the planned $411 million Padres stadium, unanimously declared that the team had provided "sufficient assurances" to move ahead with the project. Earlier in the week, the San Diego County Taxpayers Association predicted that the city could lose $11 million annually on the deal, especially if the projected private hotel development does not come to pass. . . . Meanwhile, San Diego's Historical Site Board has now designated a total of ten buildings in the Ballpark District as historic; most of the structures are expected to be demolished. Community activists have formed the ParkBayDiagonal Collaborative to press the city to find an alternate site. . . .

Bankruptcy is no excuse for breaking a deal, a federal judge has told the Pittsburgh Penguins. Judge Bernard Markovitz ruled March 25 that must stay in Pittsburgh until 2007 as promised, adding that "the interest of the community at large" outweighed creditors' claims that the team would be worth more if it were moved. The team's owner, Roger Marino, promised in 1997 to remain in town for ten years in exchange for $12.9 million in public improvements to the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, but last year declared bankruptcy and began discussing selling the team to out-of-town interests. One possible local buyer: former star player Mario Lemieux, who is owned $31 million in deferred salary by the Penguins, and hope to leverage that debt into a controlling interest in the team. . . .

After months of insisting that there would be no public subsidies for the Montreal Expos, Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard has apparently agreed to contribute between $7 and $8 million a year in provincial tourism funds to the team. The money would be used to finance $100 million in construction bonds on a stadium planned for downtown Montreal. The government of neighboring Ontario, meanwhile, is reportedly considering exempting the Ottawa Senators from the province's 10-percent amusement tax, a move that would cost Ontario taxpayers some $3 million a year. . . . The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in a surprise ruling on April 2, pulled the Washington Redskins' trademarks to the team name and logo on the grounds that they are disparaging to Native Americans. If upheld on appeal, the move could cost the NFL millions of dollars in merchandising revenue, which could lead to league pressure on the team to change its name. . . .

New Mets and Yankees stadiums may be on hold, but that hasn't stopped New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani from striking a deal to build ballparks for their minor-league affiliates. The New York-Penn League Staten Island Yankees begin play this summer, with a Mets team in Coney Island expected to follow in a year or two. According to the letters of agreement with the clubs, the city will spend a total of $40 million to construct a pair of 6,500-seat stadiums for the new teams; all ticket and parking revenue, and half the naming rights fees, will go to the teams, which will be exempt from paying rent if they draw less than 125,000 fans per season. Last year's NY-Penn average: 91,385. --April 6, 1999

Patriots, 49ers Deals Collapsing?: With an April 2 deadline for a preliminary stadium plan fast approaching, the New England Patriots' deal for a $375 million football stadium is looking less and less certain. The Hartford Courant reported on March 17 that CTG Resources Inc., which owns a steam plant on the proposed stadium site, are insisting on $48.8 million to relocate the plant; local businesses (most notable Phoenix Home Life) have offered to put up just $25 million for the move. CTG also wants the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, a quasi-public state agency, to pay all cleanup costs associated with the site, which are expected to be substantial.

Although the Patriot management insists the team remains 100% committed to moving to Hartford, there are increasing signs that team owner Robert Kraft may be merely using Connecticut as a bargaining chip to extract greater concessions from Massachusetts for a stadium deal there. At the recent NFL owners' meetings, the league approved Resolution G-2, a plan to extend loans to teams in the league's top six media markets (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Boston) to help with stadium financing, in hopes of discouraging teams from abandoning major markets for smaller cities with more generous stadium packages. Chair of the NFL Finance Committee that drafted the loan plan: Robert Kraft.

At a public meeting on March 10 to discuss the Hartford stadium plan, according to Stop The Stadium activist Donna Donovan, "The tenor of the public was hostile at worst, skeptical at best. I had the sense that they held this meeting to satisfy a contractual requirement, were not concerned that anyone showed up" -- organizers optimistically estimated 200 attendees -- "and now they can say they did it." Inside the meeting, Stop The Stadium members handed out pamphlets declaring Gov. John Rowland "the Patriots' most valuable player"; outside, a Stop The Stadium member stood dressed in a full-body skunk costume with a "This Stadium Deal Stinks" sign. . . .

Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers' stadium plans -- already beset by an ownership scandal, charges of electoral fraud, and projected cost overruns that could doom the project before ground is even broken -- received what may have been a death blow on March 17 with word that the 49ers are considering scrapping the mall that was planned to accompany it. Team vice president John York said the team still plans to go ahead with stadium construction, but the demise of the mall could force the city to again submit the $100 million in public bonds for voter approval -- this after the first vote, in June 1997, narrowly squeaked to victory largely on promises of economic development as a result of the mall. "No mall, no bonds," explained San Francisco Treasurer Susan Leal succinctly on Tuesday. The NFL has already reportedly decided to relocate the 2003 Super Bowl that had been scheduled for San Francisco. . . .

With the Philadelphia Eagles set to take advantage of the new NFL loan policy to help fund a new stadium, Pennsylvania state representative Andrew Carn notes that this means stadium revenues would go to pay back the league's costs, but not the state's. The state legislature last month approved what its backers called a "hybrid" of a loan and a grant to the state's four sports teams -- the $320 million will be "repaid" out of state taxes collected at and around new stadiums -- leading Pittsburgh Rep. Thomas Petrone to quip, "It's not a grant. It's not a loan. It's a groan." . . . The London Daily Telegraph is reporting that the government Monopolies and Mergers Commission has rejected Rupert Murdoch's bid for control of soccer giants Manchester United as being not in the public interest. The fate of the planned $1 billion takeover by Murdoch's BSkyB pay-TV network is now in the hands of Trade Secretary Stephen Byers, who is expected to make a ruling in the next three or four weeks. . . .

Residents of the neighborhood near Mount Vernon Square, where D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams wants to build a $330 million baseball stadium, were "nearly unanimous in their opposition" to the plan at a public meeting March 11, according to the Washington Post. Noting that new housing had been previously been proposed for the same site, retired city planner Steve Block told the meeting, "Cities that have downtown housing are the ones that are turning around. This site is really bad. It is a disaster." . . . The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, stung by reports that both the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils are looking to relocate to new arenas (in Newark and Hoboken respectively), has offered $72 million in parking and infrastructure improvements if someone comes forward to privately build a new arena to replace the Continental Airlines Arena as part of a complex of sports, entertainment, and retail outlets. In a bit of bad timing, the authority's proposal called such sports/entertainment hybrids "the cutting edge of new sports facility development across the nation," citing specifically the 49ers' planned stadium/mall project -- the mall component of which was scrapped the very next day. --March 18, 1999

Expos D.C.-Bound?: If press reports are to be believed, the Montreal Expos have taken another step closer to relocating to either Washington, D.C., or Northern Virginia. In the last week, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams has pitched building a $330 million baseball-only stadium, primarily with city money, while Canadian officials have refused to consider subsidies for a new stadium in Montreal. (The Expos' current park, Olympic Stadium, has cost more than $1 billion in public money for construction and repeated repairs to its accident-plagued roof.) "We're not in the business of helping sports teams," Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien told reporters March 1, a sentiment that has been echoed by municipal and provincial elected officials.

Meanwhile, baseball officials turned up the heat on Montreal by refusing to extend a March 6 deadline for restructuring the team's ownership, a process that was expected to include raising private funds for a new ballpark in Montreal. In denying the extension, baseball chief legal officer Robert DuPuy wrote that the Expos needed to move quickly "to plan with respect to the 2000 season," since "there has been no commitment for government support to keep the Expos in Montreal."

While various teams have been rumored to be interested in moving to the D.C. area in recent years, efforts to build a ballpark there have faltered -- at least until the latest proposal by Mayor Williams. There are conflicting reports whether Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos would have the right to block a move to D.C.; calls to Major League Baseball to clarify the issue were not returned. . . .

Connecticut activists are moving forward with their attempts to overturn the state's planned $375 million football stadium to bring the New England Patriots to Hartford, as the group Stop the Stadium holds public meetings in cities across the state as part of their campaign to gain 100,000 signatures on a petition calling for repeal of the stadium-funding law. Most recently, the activists have attacked Gov. John Rowland's plan to funnel $5.5 million from a fund for elderly and disabled homeowners into the stadium project. Meanwhile, the first step toward construction of the stadium -- purchase and relocation of a steam plant by the quasi-public Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority -- is on hold while the plant's owners consider whether to accept the agency's $30 million bid. The CRRA has refused to divulge where it would get the money for the purchase, leading many to speculate that it would simply be tacked onto the state's ever-growing tab. "This is a giant corporate welfare boondoggle,'' Stop The Stadium organizer Charlene LaVoie told a meeting of residents in Torrington. "We have to roar back." . . .

Scottsdale residents opposed to construction of a hockey arena for the Phoenix Coyotes in their town have formed NO PUCKS (Neighbors Organized to Prevent Unwanted Community Killing in Scottsdale) to fight the inclusion of the arena in the planned redevelopment of the Los Arcos Mall. The South Scottsdale Revitalization Coalition estimates that sales tax rebates, tax-exempt bond subsidies, and property tax exemptions will fund at least half of the project's $600 million to $700 million estimated cost, surpassing even the $240 million in public subsidies given to Phoenix's controversial Bank One Ballpark. With a public referendum scheduled for May 18, the Coyotes and mall developer The Ellman Companies have funded a campaign called Don't Let Los Arcos Die to push for a yes vote. . . . Yet another public cost of the San Francisco Giants' "privately financed" Pacific Bell Park: the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department is bracing to lose $1 million a year in rent on city-owned 3Com Park when the team moves into its new stadium next year. Pacific Bell Park has already received millions of dollars in land-clearing costs and tax increment financing from the city. . . .

Rumors of Cablevision's planned purchase of the New York Yankees came to a crashing halt February 25 with the announcement that the Yankees had signed a letter of intent to merge with the New Jersey Nets basketball team, creating an umbrella corporation called YankeeNets that would be expected to attempt to forge its own regional cable network. (Some local observers are skeptical, however, wondering aloud whether this could be merely a bargaining ploy by the Yankees to bring Cablevision back to the table.) Cablevision part-owner Larry Dolan, meanwhile, is part of a group that has reportedly offered $65 million to buy the Cincinnati Reds from owner Marge Schott. . . . The Nets are involved in their own controversial arena project in Newark, N.J., which would wipe out the homes of more than 300 people; community activists with the City Hall Area Redevelopment Group are organizing to stop the proposed arena. . . . Finally, as if reaping a reported $200 million from the Nets as part of the merger agreement were not enough, the Yankees are reportedly considering selling the naming rights to Yankee Stadium to a corporation. "The Yankees have the best name in sports, and the naming rights are certainly a huge value," Yankee spokesman Howard Rubinstein told the Daily News. "It's speculation now, but everything's being considered." No word on how the Yankees would go about selling naming rights to a building that is, in fact, the property of the city. --March 6, 1999

Pennsylvania Approves $320 Million "Loan" For Four Stadiums: In a surprise move, the Pennsylvania state legislature approved on February 2 $320 million in state subsidies for four proposed stadiums for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles. An earlier plan had failed to pass muster in the legislature last December, House Majority Leader John Perzel's "compromise" plan was approved 136-62 by the state house, and 34-15 by the state senate.

Though advertised as an "interest-free loan" from the state to the teams, the money would in fact come from tax increment financing (TIFs), a scheme that has previously been used to finance part of the San Francisco Giants' new Pacific Bell Park -- and which was rejected by a San Antonio school board as too costly, since it involves the government kicking back tax revenues to pay for a project's construction. The Pirates and Steelers are already prepared to move forward with construction of their new stadiums, with additional funding from the city of Pittsburgh; the Phillies and Eagles have yet to finalize stadium plans. . . .

TIFs are the flavor of the month in sports facility construction: The Phoenix Coyotes' proposed $624 million arena/mall project in Scottsdale, Arizona, would use property-tax and sales-tax revenue in the arena district to pay off its construction bonds. (Economists have long cautioned that entertainment and retail venues, such as stadiums or malls, only cannibalize existing consumer spending, and therefore should not be credited with increasing tax revenues.) A public vote is scheduled for May 18, but the neighboring town of Carefree's recent vote to pull out of the planned arena district could ultimately doom the project; Coyotes officials are reportedly canvassing other nearby towns in an attempt to come up with a new partner for the district, which requires a minimum of two municipalities. . . . May 18 will also be the date for a public referendum in Mesa and Queen Creek, Arizona, on using sales taxes to pay for the $1.8 billion Rio Salado Crossing project, the centerpiece of which would be a new football stadium for the Arizona Cardinals. (The city of Tempe backed out of the plan last summer, saying it would require too much public money.) . . .

The NFL likes to claim that cities that bring the Super Bowl to town can see a windfall of as much as $300 million or more of economic activity in a brief two-week span of time. But a study of six Super Bowls in Miami, Tampa, and Phoenix has found that the football championship's impact on local sales revenues is a big, flat zero. "There ought to be a spike that sticks up like a sore thumb," said Philip Porter, the University of South Florida economics professor who conducted the study. "It doesn't exist. There is no blip. You don't find anything." The problem, he says, is that at least in warm-weather cities, Super Bowl visitors merely displace tourists who would otherwise be visiting during the last week in January. . . .

About 150 people jammed a meeting hall near Fenway Park January 22 to express concerns over the Boston Red Sox' rumored plans for a new stadium. "If you want out of Fenway Park, start thinking about getting out of Fenway altogether," said Peter Catalano of the Fenway Action Coalition. The Red Sox deny earlier reports that they will present a stadium plan in February, and now say they are possibly months away from finalizing a proposal. . . . The Los Angeles Dodgers have announced preliminary plans for a renovation of Dodger Stadium. The addition of new field-level seats and 30 luxury suites is expected to be complete in time for the 2000 season. . . . New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, rebuffed in his attempts to build a Manhattan ballpark for the Yankees, has instead called for a domed football stadium and "new Madison Square Garden" to be built on the same West Side site. The mayor also suggested building a pro soccer stadium somewhere in the city, bringing the total number of city-funded sports venues he's proposed to seven. . . . The collapse of Olympic Stadium's brand-new $37 million Teflon roof during an auto show in January will not delay the Montreal Expos' home opener, club officials promise. Quebec cabinet minister Louise Harel observed that the stadium, which had its original malfunctioning roof replaced only last year, appears to be under a "divine curse." --February 11, 1999

Hartford Stadium Approved; Spurs, 49ers Plans On Hold: The Connecticut legislature overwhelmingly approved $374 million in public funding for a new stadium for the New England Patriots on December 15. But opponents of the project vow to block construction before it begins.

The yes votes (97-49 in the state house, 27-8 in the senate) came after Gov. John Rowland negotiated minor improvements in the deal with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, including a reduction in the state's luxury seating guarantee from $17.5 million to $13 million a year, and a promise from Kraft to pay any cost overruns over $374 million. (Overruns will likely be difficult to calculate, however, given that the stadium will be only one piece of a larger Adriaen's Landing development project.) Legislators were also rumored to have been treated to some last-minute horse-trading by the governor, who offered to back representatives' pet projects in exchange for a "yes" vote on the stadium. (The governor's office denied this.)

On December 28, the local Green Party, Libertarian Party, Reform Party, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader were among those announcing the launch of Stop The Stadium, a public campaign to halt construction of the project. "The deal is by no means done," said Nader, who called the governor a "41-year-old twerp" and said, "This is what I expect of the legislature of Baton Rouge, not my home state." . . .

The scene was very different in San Antonio, where the North East School District board voted 5-2 on December 14 to reject plans for a new $157 million arena for the Spurs. The board's approval was necessary because the arena would have been built with tax increment financing (TIF) money, which would have been diverted from the school district. . . . The San Francisco 49ers' stadium/mall project, which survived an ownership scandal and a court challenge, now appears to have fallen prey to simple economics. With cost estimates of the stadium alone running over $500 million, the team is reportedly considering taking the $100 million in city money approved narrowly by voters in June 1997 and putting it into converting 3Com (aka Candlestick) Park into a football-only stadium. . . .

The record franchise sale price $530 million (for the Cleveland Browns last September) didn't last long: On January 10, a group led by New York Islanders co-owner Howard Milstein announced an agreement to buy the Washington Redskins and Jack Kent Cooke Stadium for a whopping $800 million. NFL rules that prohibit ownership of other sports teams in NFL cities will force Milstein to sell off his share of the Islanders, but he may already have plans for the money: He is reportedly negotiating to buy the Toronto Blue Jays and SkyDome, both of which are on the block. . . .

The Boston Red Sox are reportedly considering a plan to build a mammoth $1 billion sports and entertainment complex, including a new 48,000-seat ballpark, on several blocks surrounding Fenway Park. The Boston Herald reports that such a project, which would wipe out much of the existing neighborhood, would require at least $200 million to $250 million in public money. The Sox are expected to announce their ballpark plan in early February; the neighborhood Fenway Action Coalition will be holding a town meeting on January 21 at the 7th Day Adventist Temple (corner of Jersey and Peterborough) to address the team's plans. . . . Meanwhile, longtime food vendors outside Fenway Park got a scare last month when the Red Sox announced they would no longer approve permits for the streets adjacent to the ballpark. (Under city law, property owners must approve all sidewalk vendors.) However, Mayor Tom Menino brokered a deal under which Yawkey Way will be closed to traffic on game days, creating a pedestrian mall where vendors may hawk their wares. The popular sausage carts and peanut salesmen outside Fenway have long been an annoyance to the Red Sox, who want fans to be forced to buy food at ballpark prices inside the gates; the desire for more elaborate concessions facilities is rumored to be one of the main reasons the team wants out of Fenway. . . .

The new Detroit Tigers stadium scheduled to open in 2000 will be known as Comerica Park after owner Mike Ilitch sold naming rights to the ballpark to a local bank. Comerica, which had earlier refused to finance Ilitch's private contribution to stadium construction, will now provide $66 million (over 30 years) toward the $145 million private cost -- which will not even kick in until all $135 million in public money is exhausted. . . . The Montreal Expos, who have made little progress in securing either a new ballpark or a city to relocate to, have reportedly signed a lease extension at Olympic Stadium through the year 2000. . . . Finally, New York City is shelling out close to $1 billion to ensure that a local institution doesn't move to New Jersey -- and it's not the Yankees. Rather, the December 22 deal announced by Mayor Rudy Giuliani gives close to $900 million in subsidies and tax breaks to the New York Stock Exchange, which will move into a new headquarters across the street from its current site. Meanwhile, the mayor has proposed building a new football stadium to lure the New York Jets and a replacement for Madison Square Garden for the midtown site he originally proposed for a new Yankees ballpark. --January 15, 1999