News of the Arroyo
Title: | This owner no advocate of city shifts |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2003-03-23 |
Summary: | March 23, 2003 -- The San Diego Union-Tribune offers some intersting perspectives from NFL owner Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers about NFL support for a renovation of the Rose Bowl. |
Author: | Jerry Magee Staff Writer |
Publication: | San Diego Union-Tribune |
Content: | PHOENIX – Any Rose Bowl representatives wishing to win the NFL\'s financial assistance in wrenching the Chargers out of San Diego must deal with a man who recognizes how burdensome it is for a city to be stripped of a franchise. He is founder/owner Jerry Richardson of the Carolina Panthers. \"I think it\'s devastating for a city to lose a franchise,\" Richardson said yesterday in an interview. Further, he said this: \"This league jumps through hoops to keep teams where they are.\" No member of the NFL Executive Committee – the ranking officers of each of the 32 clubs – is as strongly placed concerning stadium issues as Richardson, president of the NFL Stadium Committee and a member of what the league terms its \"Los Angeles working group\" – the committee charged with looking into the viability of placing a franchise in the city. Richardson\'s influence has been most strongly expressed through his activities in connection with \"G-3.\" The symbol is one the NFL attaches to its stadium-funding program, which has fed $650 million to eight stadium projects, according to Joe Browne, an NFL executive vice president. The program is lapsing, but it is expected to be extended for one year during the league\'s annual spring meetings that convene here today. To satisfy NFL standards, the Rose Bowl would have to be spruced up through the addition of luxury boxes and improved seating. One way for those who envision the Pasadena stadium as a potential NFL venue to do this would be by tapping into \"G-3,\" but Richardson said the league has not been asked to make a contribution. Richardson said discussions the \"L.A. working group\" had with Rose Bowl advocates recently in Florida were only general in nature. Additional talks with Rose Bowl representatives are on the agenda for this week\'s meetings. Richardson has seen how disspiriting it can be for a city to lose a pro sports franchise. Before the current NBA season, the Charlotte Hornets departed the North Carolina city for New Orleans. Charlotte subsequently was awarded an NBA expansion franchise. To now, by Browne\'s accounting, G-3 has provided financial assistance for stadium projects in Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Houston, Boston, Cleveland and Detroit. Richardson, a receiver for the Baltimore Colts during John Unitas\' time with the team, said he has not made a thorough study of the Chargers\' stadium situation. \"They\'re all complicated,\" he said of the league\'s stadium issues, \"and they get more complicated as emotions start to kick in. But that\'s the appeal of sports: They keep people involved psychologically and emotionally.\" While Richardson might not be as fully briefed as he might be concerning the Chargers\' status, his remarks indicated he has studied stadium evolution in all sports. He remembered, to make this point, when NFL clubs were based in venues constructed for baseball. What first was known as Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami (now Pro Player Stadium) and Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City were the first stadiums created expressly for NFL teams, Richardson said. Richardson said he has not decided how he will vote concerning what is expected to be the meetings\' most touchy subject – how, if at all, to adjust overtime procedures. The most meaningful action could come on a matter not on the agenda, Richardson said. He did not detail to what he was referring. |
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