News of the Arroyo
Title: | No progress on L.A. as NFL meetings end |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-05-26 |
Summary: | May 26, 2005 - Issues other than site selection for a new NFL franchises occupied the attention of National Football League owners meeting in New Orleans this week. |
Author: | Billy Witz, Staff Writer |
Publication: | Pasadena Star News |
Content: | Wednesday, May 25, 2005 - With the league\'s attention focused squarely on big-picture issues such as revenue sharing, the collective bargaining agreement and funding for the G-3 stadium loan program, little attention was devoted to Los Angeles at the NFL owners\' meetings that wrapped up Wednesday. Yet those macro and micro subjects will be running down parallel tracks this summer as the league considers its return to Los Angeles. The big-money matters will influence the type of lease agreement the league would turn over to the owner of a Los Angeles franchise. And when they\'re settled perhaps this summer or early in the fall the league would like to be ready to make a decision on whether a state-of-the-art stadium would be at the Coliseum, Rose Bowl or Anaheim. \"I think we are (making progress),\' Commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. \"Both in terms of ... starting the process of zeroing in on the final deal and progress we\'ve made in terms of not just getting definitive term sheets, but addressing the underlying issues that have to be resolved environmental, architectural design and cost issues that get reflected in the term sheets.\' NFL staff, which will meet soon with the L.A. Working Group, will then begin working on lease agreements, which will take the parameters set down in the term negotiations and put them into the form of a legal document. \"Everybody sees it, everybody wants it to happen,\' said Steelers owner Dan Rooney, a member of the L.A. Working Group. \"You\'ve got problems and you\'ve got to get them solved, but it\'s going to get done. When Los Angeles\' time comes, it will get done.\' For now, though, the league has scheduled five meetings one each month from June through October to discuss the collective bargaining agreement. When lease agreements at the three sites are complete, the NFL could take them to the owners for a vote at one of those meetings. But that could be several months off. \"We as owners are not in a position to make a thoughtful decision right now,\' Falcons owner Arthur Blank said. While the NFL had hoped to make a decision on a site by this meeting an objective it set out last August its inability to do so is less a function of the staff or the three sites, but of economic issues. \"The uncertainty with where we are and the future of G-3 and collective bargaining has slowed things down a little bit,\' Tagliabue said. \"But hopefully that will just be a temporary slowdown.\' In the meantime, the Rose Bowl\'s fate hinges on whether the Pasadena City Council will adopt a statement of overriding consideration, which essentially endorses the proposed renovation project. \"If we don\'t have that, it would be hard to go forward,\' NFL executive Neil Glat said. \"But we\'re optimistic.\' Also on Tuesday, a day after Saints owner Tom Benson expressed hope that he\'d be able to work out a deal with the state of Louisiana to stay in New Orleans, Tagliabue said he would speak with Benson and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco in the hopes of getting them back to the table. Benson cut off negotiations April 29, saying he would wait until after the season to negotiate. After this season, the Saints have a 90-day window in their lease in which they can leave New Orleans provided they return $81 million in subsidies to the state they\'ve received under their current deal. The Colts, who once appeared to be prime relocation candidates, got approval from the Indiana legislature four weeks ago on a financing plan for a new stadium. The only two issues to be cleared before an Aug. 1 ground breaking are the implementation of a 1 percent restaurant tax in Indianapolis-area counties and finalizing lease terms, neither of which is expected to be a hurdle. Billy Witz can be reached at (818) 713-3607. |
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