News of the Arroyo
Title: | Tagliabue suggests meeting with Pasadena officials |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2003-06-03 |
Summary: | June 3, 2003 -- NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue wants to meet with Pasadena officals regarding Rose Bowl prospects. |
Author: | John Nadel, Associated Press |
Publication: | San Diego Union-Tribune |
Content: | LOS ANGELES – NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue has requested a meeting with Pasadena officials to discuss the city\'s proposal to attract a team to the Rose Bowl – a development that pleased the stadium\'s general manager. The NFL has stated its intention to return to the Los Angeles area, which has been without a team since the Raiders moved to Oakland and the Rams moved to St. Louis before the 1995 season. \"We are very encouraged by the progress to date and the creative thinking to develop a long-term solution for the Rose Bowl in Pasadena,\" Tagliabue said in a letter faxed to Rose Bowl GM Darryl Dunn and Pasadena city manager Cynthia Kurtz on Monday. \"As a next step, we would recommend that a face-to-face meeting take place in the next two or three weeks. \"At that meeting, we would be prepared to advance the process by reviewing with you your proposal in detail considering matters that may need elaboration or clarification, giving specific feedback, and addressing any concerns you may have. \"Our interest in the Rose Bowl as a possible home for an NFL team and for future Super Bowls is as strong, if not stronger, as when we began seriously discussing this concept more than two years ago.\" Pasadena presented its proposal to the league at an NFL owners meeting in Philadelphia two weeks ago. The owners voted 30-1 with one abstention to spend up to $10 million looking into the viability of a stadium in suburban Carson, but Tagliabue said he considered Carson and Pasadena to be on equal footing. \"This is a positive day,\" Dunn said Monday. \"In order to get something done, we have to sit down and talk. That\'s what they want to do. That\'s very positive. We want to develop a partnership with the NFL. In order to accomplish that goal, it\'s imperative we sit down to meet and discuss important issues for both sides.\" No matter what happens, it\'s almost certain to be several years before an existing NFL team relocates to the Los Angeles area. The league has said it has no plans for expansion. \"It\'s going to be a long process; we\'re in the first quarter of that process,\" Dunn said. \"Assuming the City Council still wants to proceed, we would have to start an environmental impact report, and that will take up to nine months. Construction\'s going to be the better part of two years.\" Dunn said there was no mention in the letter of any of the specific points in Pasadena\'s proposal or a request for compensation on expenses. John Moag, a Baltimore investment banker hired by the Rose Bowl to lead its bid, wouldn\'t comment Monday, saying he would leave that to Pasadena officials. \"We\'re not after this for the NFL, we\'re after this to secure our future,\" Dunn said. \"We have an opportunity to make an 81-year-old stadium young. It\'s such an opportunity for us to find a way to secure the Rose Bowl for future generations.\" Dunn said the city loses between $1 million and $2 million a year on the Rose Bowl. \"All our stadium is going to do is get older and we\'re going to continue to lose money as long as the city continues to reinvest money to the stadium,\" Dunn said. \"We have to do this. It\'s an incredible opportunity. We\'re moving forward with great enthusiasm.\" Assuming it happens, it will cost an estimated $500 million to refurbish the Rose Bowl. Dunn said the endeavor would be privately financed, with the NFL very involved. \"Our goal is to continue the dialogue and see if we can move the process forward,\" NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said from his New York home. \"We\'re continuing to look at both Pasadena and Carson, and the Coliseum has also indicated its interest in meeting with us.\" |
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