http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/7367673.htm


That's the ticket

Texas Rangers hope deals pack The Ballpark

By Sean Wood
Star-Telegram Staff Writer


ARLINGTON - The Texas Rangers are busy creating reasons to come to The Ballpark in Arlington in 2004 on the heels of another last-place finish in the American League West.

Jeff Cogen, the one-time marketing vice president for the Rangers' parent company, Southwest Sports Group, is now chief operating officer for the Texas Rangers. He and his staff have built initiatives around season tickets, mini-plans, group sales and individual tickets. All are geared toward getting more bodies in the seats next season.

"We want to get people to The Ballpark," Cogen said. "Once we've gotten them here, we have a very high probability of capturing them again."

Becky Vallett, executive editor of Chicago-based Team Marketing Report, said more baseball teams need to use promotions to get fans out.

"It would be more fun, and people would be more willing to come back to baseball if Major League Baseball wasn't so highbrow," Vallett said. "Maybe teams think they're above ... [having] to do promotions."

Deep discounts and ticket giveaways don't erode team revenue as much as some may think, she said. The money lost on free or discounted tickets is more than made up at the concession stand or in the parking lot. "Think of all the cars they can park," Vallett said.

The team has already launched its full- and half-season ticket campaigns, which are loaded with perks for fans willing to spring for these packages, which can cost thousands of dollars. Food and beverage vouchers, chances to play in the outfield and premium giveaways are all part of the packages.

Cogen said the club has already sold 195 full-season tickets and equivalents, more than last year he said, although he declined to say by how much.

The 40-game packages, which are new, coupled with a motivated sales staff and the perception of an improved economy have helped drive sales, Cogen said.

The Rangers have also launched a 10-game voucher for the holiday shopping season. The vouchers can be exchanged for a ticket to any game during the 2004 season, and are available from various retail outlets in Tarrant County, as well as from the Rangers.

Cogen said the ballclub is looking more to Tarrant County for fans because there is a perception in Dallas and Collin counties that it is too hard to get to The Ballpark.

"We have terrific, unfettered access to the west," he said.

To attract more group sales, the team is inviting leaders of youth, school and community groups to play around The Ballpark on Dec. 6. The club is also offering discounts on group sales for weeknight games. It's not discounting tickets on the weekends but is offering free caps to groups that meet a minimum size. Cogen said he wants to grow the number of group tickets sold from 388,000 in 2003 to 500,000 in 2004.

Cogen is also offering a tax break to companies that want to buy tickets through the Texas Rangers foundation and give them to underprivileged children. The program, called Ranger Pals, is similar to the Panther Pals program used by the Florida Panthers hockey team when Cogen was with them. He's hoping to sell 20,000 tickets through the Rangers' program.

For individual tickets it's all about the deals. Cogen and crew are working on partnerships with retailers, auto dealers, restaurants, bottling companies, media companies, cellphone companies and others -- that will put ticket vouchers in people's hands.

Bobblehead figurines, caps, shirts and other wearable items are also on the menu of Ballpark perks. So are special events such as discounted online tickets, concerts and fireworks shows tied in with promotional sponsors.

"We're working on the hook, and then we'll promote the **** out of it," Cogen said.

The team is also using the 10th anniversary of The Ballpark as a marketing tool, rolling back selected ticket and concession prices to 1994 levels on some days.

And, Cogen said, the team is looking at free admission for any kid celebrating his 10th birthday during the season if he brings a copy of his birth certificate.

"I'm counting on the fact that a lot of these 10-year-olds are not coming to the park by themselves," he said.

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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/29/nyregion/29JETS.html


Jets Stadium in Manhattan Moves Closer, but Issues Remain

By CHARLES V. BAGLI

Published: November 29, 2003


State and city officials say they are inching toward a tentative agreement with the owners of the New York Jets to split the $1.5 billion cost of building a new football stadium over Manhattan's West Side rail yards.

An announcement could come as soon as January, the officials said. Under the terms of what officials said would be a nonbinding agreement, the Jets would pay up to $800 million for a modern riverfront stadium, which would also serve as an Olympic stadium if the city wins its bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The city and the state, in turn, have generally agreed to pay $300 million to $400 million to build a retractable roof, the air-conditioning system and a platform structure over the rail yards on which the stadium would sit.

But lurking beneath the expected announcement are a number of contentious unresolved issues that could delay or even scuttle the stadium project.

There is no agreement on how to pay for the extension of the No. 7 subway line from Times Square to the stadium, which is considered a crucial element of the West Side redevelopment. Nor is there consensus on the size and scope of a related project, the $1.5 billion expansion of the nearby Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, say state and city officials involved in those projects. Proponents of the Javits expansion contend that it is more important than the stadium to the city's economic life.

Finally, the city has yet to release its long-promised financial plan for the transformation of the West Side, including the stadium, an expanded convention center, new zoning for commercial and residential construction and parks and the subway extension, as the cost has climbed to $5 billion from an estimated $2.68 billion. The financial plan would presumably detail how the various projects could be turned into reality without tapping into the state's or city's current revenues, something the city has promised not to do.

"There are a series of questions that have yet to be answered about the financing, phasing and urban design," said Robert D. Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit research and advocacy group for the metropolitan region. "This is the city's most ambitious and important economic development plan in the last quarter century."

Nevertheless, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg dropped broad hints during his weekly radio program just before Thanksgiving that he hoped the city would soon strike a deal with the Jets, just as Business Week reported that a deal was imminent. But in an interview Friday, Daniel L. Doctoroff, deputy mayor for economic development and the founder of the city's Olympic bid committee, refused to set a date for any announcement.

"Progress is continuing to be made on virtually every front," Mr. Doctoroff said. "But this is an incredibly complicated jigsaw puzzle. We want to make sure that we have all the right pieces in all the right places."

In an effort to cut costs, city and state officials are considering scaling back the expansion of the Javits Center and reducing the number of stations on the subway extension, at least in the first phase. Mr. Doctoroff has said that the city's stadium obligation and the subway extension will be financed under a still unreleased plan using tax revenues from new development in the area over the next 30 years.

But the city has several reasons for wanting to move more rapidly on the stadium. The team owners, who have spent $10 million on lobbyists and designs for a stadium, have demanded that the state and the city issue "a letter of intent, or some kind of moral commitment" for the project before the team spends any more money, according to a team executive. The Jets' lease at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, their current home, expires at the end of 2008 and the team wants a home of its own for the 2009 season. That means construction has to begin soon.

Officials say the Bloomberg administration also wants to convey a sense of momentum for its Olympic bid with an announcement about the stadium, which would be used for Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. The International Olympic Committee will not select a 2012 site until the summer of 2005, but competing cities have to show some progress on their plans before then.

"It's important that decisions about the stadium get made fairly quickly," Mr. Yaro said.

The Jets and city and state officials point to the team's $800 million commitment as the largest single contribution toward stadium construction by any professional sports team. But the cost of the proposed West Side stadium is also double or triple that of the new stadiums built in Seattle, Philadelphia and Chicago, which cost $400 million to $500 million, according to the National Football League.

Many economists contend that stadiums are relatively poor public investments because they do little more than enrich the teams. But city and state officials say that the economic value of the Jets stadium is enhanced by its links to the Javits Center, whose site is between 34th and 39th Streets along 11th Avenue, just north of the rail yards. With a retractable roof, the Jets say the stadium could be used for 150 other events a year, including convention meetings and plenary sessions, concerts and other sporting events.

But there still is a great deal of controversy surrounding the stadium, its connection to Javits and other issues related to the West Side plans.

The city's stadium plan and rezoning proposal for commercial and residential development will face almost inevitable legal challenges by community groups and others who oppose the projects. Jerry Schoenfeld, chairman of the Shubert Organization, which owns half the Broadway theaters, has become increasingly outspoken about what he says are the potentially negative impacts of a stadium on the nearby theater district, Times Square and the surrounding neighborhood.

"This is all fantasy," said John Fisher, a member of the Westside Coalition, an amalgam of 35 community groups, referring to the size and complexity of the city's plans.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has said it favors extending the No. 7 line, which would bring office workers and football fans to the West Side and spark development of the relatively low-slung neighborhood. But the agency says it has no money in its capital budget for the project, whose cost ranges from $1.6 billion to $2.3 billion.

Peter S. Kalikow, chairman of the M.T.A., has also made it clear that his agency wants to be compensated for allowing the Jets to build over its rail yards, on the blocks bounded by 11th and 12th Avenues, between 30th and 34th Streets. But in what could be a stumbling block, Mr. Kalikow wants to be able to sell far more development rights from the yards than the city now envisions in its proposed rezoning of the West Side.

But the most public dispute reveals the fault line between stadium supporters and advocates for the expansion of the Javits Center over the pace and priority of their respective projects. It also illustrates the interlocking relationship between the stadium, the convention center and the subway line.

On Nov. 19, the board of the Javits operating corporation passed a resolution stating that the city's and state's current plans for the Javits center were "unacceptable," because they would result in a long delay.

For nearly a decade, the Javits Center's operating corporation and the hotel industry have sought to double the size of the convention center by expanding north to 42nd Street, which they said would generate an additional $600 million a year in convention, hotel and restaurant business. Robert E. Boyle, chairman of the Javits operating corporation, has expressed doubts about how much the stadium could really be used for conventions, and the agency's Web site does not even mention the plans to the stadium.

"The mayor constantly refers to travel and tourism as being an industry that is ripe for growth," said Jonathan M. Tisch, chief executive of Loews Hotels and chairman of New York City and Company, the city's convention and visitors bureau. An expanded convention center, he said, "would be an enormous catalyst to achieve that goal."

State officials tried to quell the uprising, telling reporters that the resolution adopted by the Javits board was unauthorized. They said that the planning and development of the Javits Center would be handled by the center's development corporation, which is headed by Charles A. Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation.

"We could have several alternatives," Mr. Gargano said. "We're working with the governor and the mayor on a plan that will work."

One problem is that the M.T.A.'s Michael Quill bus depot lies in the path of the Javits expansion, on 11th Avenue between 40th and 41st Streets. The M.T.A., which bought and renovated the depot in the mid-1990's for about $120 million, does not want to give up the garage until a new one is built, probably under the stadium platform.

But it now appears that construction of the new $400 million garage cannot start until 2009. That would delay the Javits expansion until the garage is completed in 2013, which infuriates the hotel industry.

One possibility is that Javits would be expanded only to the Quill garage on 40th Street, until a second phase could start sometime in the future, a move that Javits supporters greet with dismay.

"We need to get this built," Joseph E. Spinnato, president of the Hotel Association of New York City, said of the convention center. "This is a moneymaker for the city and the state. But to be held hostage to any other part of the West Side development is not something that we're particularly happy about."





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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/padres/20031130-9999_1m30downtown.html


Ballpark heads for home(run) stretch


By Jonathan Heller
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

November 30, 2003

Five years ago this month, city voters approved Proposition C, the $1 billion ballpark and redevelopment project in the East Village.

The anniversary, which was Nov. 3, passed without fanfare. There was no public ceremony. No press releases. Workers did not pause for a moment to reflect.

They were too busy.

Less than five months from opening day, the heavy construction is finished. The 500 or so laborers now are focused on floor tiles, drywall and other finishing touches to a 90 percent complete ballpark.

"There's light at the end of the tunnel," said Erik Judson, the Padres' vice president for development. "We're down to the last four dozen items or so, instead of the last 70 dozen items."

The Padres' front-office staff plan to move into the new offices after the first of the year. Judson plans to wrap up construction by Feb. 15, and the ballpark will open in April.

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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/business.bg?articleid=963


Options dwindle for new Sox park
By Scott Van Voorhis
Wednesday, December 3, 2003


The Red Sox face a diminishing field of alternatives to Fenway Park as several once-promising potential ballpark sites are being pitched for other uses, such as housing or office parks.

Four potential ballpark sites are on the market for other uses as Wall Street financier John Henry's Red Sox ownership group grapples with whether to undertake a major rebuild of their antique ballpark.

Among the array of endangered would-be stadium sites is an oft-discussed South Boston site owned by Frank McCourtthat has developed an enthusiastic following among some Sox fans intrigued by a waterfront stadium.

Meanwhile, the Sox owners, after two complete seasons, say they have no timetable for concluding their long-running study of Fenway's future. But delaying a decision on whether to move or rebuild could strip away some of their hottest options, experts warn.

As their options narrow, ``that becomes a more troubling situation for them,'' said Marc Ganis, a sports business expert with SportsCorp Ltd. in Chicago. ``They may not have the options they may like when and if they decide to build a new stadium.''

McCourt, who owns vast parking lots near Fan Pier, may have the Hub's best-known alternative ballpark site.

McCourt, who launched a bid to buy the Sox based on his ballpark site,recently approached Sox officials to probe their interest in the site before offering the tract for sale to other developers. He has since shopped his 25-acre site to various commercial builders.

Hub business magnates Stephen Karp and Joseph J. O'Donnell also eyed a waterfront ballpark proposal, a few blocks away from McCourt's lots, when they also sought to buy the Sox two years ago. But that option, which involved building a stadium across the combined parking lots of Anthony's Pier 4 restaurant and the neighboring Fan Pier development site, appears to have been crowded out by other development plans.

Local representatives of Chicago's Pritzker family, which controls Fan Pier, recently rolled out a building plan that covers a key portion of the site contemplated by Karp and O'Donnell.

Meanwhile, builder Les Marino has drawn up plans for a large apartment complex on a Mystic River site straddling the Everett/Boston line. Until recently, he pitched the property as a ballpark site.

The Sox may even face a tight real estate situation in their own Fenway backyard.

Hub developer and Celtics part-owner Robert Epstein is considering plans for a large office building on the Fenway-area site slated for a new stadium several years ago, when John Harrington controlled the team and Fenway Park. That proposal won city and state support, but was shelved when Henry took over.

Yet, a spokesman said Henry and his partners have no plans to rush their decision on the future of their baseball shrine.

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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/wed/metro/news_1m3beat.html



FROM THE BALBOA PARK BEAT
Parking problems from Petco predicted


By James Steinberg
STAFF WRITER

December 3, 2003


There's a growing uneasiness in Balboa Park that the Padres parking plan for Petco Park – or a lack of one, according to some – will send fans to the free Inspiration Point parking lot on Park Boulevard.

The designated downtown lots for the ballpark will charge up to $17 on game day.

Jeffrey Kirsch, executive director of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, said it is a real concern.

"We are reasonably close to Petco Park, and without any parking management by the city, (Inspiration Point) is perceived as a place to park by groups external to the park," he said.

Michael W. Hager, executive director of the San Diego Natural History Museum, said the baseball fans will cut into the parking meant for Balboa Park visitors.

"This first year we need to study the impact and assess what it is and take corrective action," Hager said. Among the options are paid parking at Inspiration Point on game days, or a parking monitor to assess a fee to the Padres for fans who park at Inspiration Point.

Balboa Park Committee chairman Dan Mazzella says Balboa Park is in a "crisis situation already," even before Petco Park is factored into the equation.

"Everybody is concerned about the growth in Balboa Park. What we can't stop is the growth around Balboa Park," he said.

That growth, he said, is "going to run head-first into our policy that there is free parking in the park."

The zoo wants the City Council to consider a four-story underground parking structure in February. But that's when the long-awaited report from a $975,000 state-funded study of Balboa Park's parking, land-use and traffic circulation is due, and the council will likely want to study the document.


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http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/sports/2677824/detail.html



Padres Get Exclusive Rights To Sell Ballpark Ads

Some Residents Concerned About Who Will Advertise



SAN DIEGO -- The City Council approved an agreement Tuesday giving the San Diego Padres the exclusive right to sell advertising within the new Petco Park and on its outside walls.

The agreement also establishes guidelines for non advertising-related signs on the ballpark exterior and its entry gates.

Several residents had asked the council not to allow advertising for alcoholic beverages at the ballpark, saying it would influence minors to drink.

"I don't want to see Budweiser plastered all over that stadium," one San Diego resident said.

But Councilman Jim Madaffer disagreed.

"I appreciate the speakers on the alcohol issue, and understand their concerns," he said.

"And I don't like the Marlboro sign at Qualcomm Stadium either. But I don't think for a second that 'cause that sign's there my kids are going to start smoking tomorrow. I feel the same way about alcohol."

The Padres play their first season in the ballpark next season.

Meanwhile, the three-week process to install personalized bricks purchased by fans started Tuesday.

There are a total of 13,586 bricks, of which there are 11,995 personalized versions.

Some bricks are still available for purchase for the second phase of installment. Visit www.padres.com for more information.

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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2265822


It's a wash: Ballpark to bid fungus farewell

By DINA CAPPIELLO
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Environment Writer


Add Minute Maid Park's moldy roof to the list of things that will be spruced up for Super Bowl XXXVIII.

Ending a half-year stalemate with the Astros and Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, the roof's manufacturer has agreed to remove the mold, which has proliferated into a downtown eyesore, by early next year. The company will then conduct two separate tests to see whether it will apply an acrylic coating or a rubber-like covering to prevent the mold from sprouting again.

Part of the impetus for the solution was that NFL officials housed at the new downtown Hilton Americas hotel could potentially have the mold-covered ballpark as a view, said Billy Burge, chairman of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority.

"People are going to be looking at all of our major facilities," Burge said. "It got to this point because the company realized that they have a lot more to gain by making this right, rather than playing hardball."

Oliver Luck, the CEO of the authority, which owns the $250 million ballpark paid for mostly with public funds, said he was satisfied with the agreement. The authority, along with the Houston Astros, who hold a 30-year lease, argued that the growth -- an assortment of common molds found everywhere, including grocery store produce and air -- violated the 10-year warranty. Earlier this year, the team filed a warranty claim with the manufacturer.

"It's exactly what we wanted ... to get it cleaned up before the Super Bowl and have a long-term solution," said Luck.

The city is also prepping for the big game, planting trees along major routes from airports, camouflaging strip malls with greenery and encouraging people to clean up neighborhoods.

Eyes will also be on Minute Maid Park, a stadium built with a $30 million retractable roof of white plastic, designed to reflect sunlight and reduce air conditioning costs, and visible from local highways. The ballpark will host the All Star game in 2004.

"Certainly, if I owned the building, I would want it to be clean and presentable over the next eight months for all the world to see," said Astros catcher Brad Ausmus said.

Despite the agreement, GenFlex Roofing Systems, of Maumee, Ohio, stands by its claim that mold was not covered by the warranty. The company first offered to pay for a roof cleaning in mid-July, but the Astros wouldn't commit until independent tests were conducted to determine which organisms were growing, and whether their habitation was affecting the roof. Tests showed the roof suffered no damage.

"All I can tell you right now is that we will be cleaning the roof," said Jon Apgar, vice president of marketing and sales for GenFlex. Apgar was the company's president during the bulk of the negotiations. In an interview Tuesday, he said the company -- which has installed numerous so-called thermoplastic membranes on stadiums since they started making them in 1980 -- has never cleaned one before.

In fact, in letters earlier this year to Pam Gardner, Astros president of business operations, Apgar said all the roof needed was a simple cleaning. Power washing with water, and other simple techniques, have removed mold growing on thin, plastic membranes in the past. On Tuesday, the company was still soliciting bids.

But since the ballpark opened in March 2000, the 480,000-square-foot roof has not seen a hose or detergent, because the Astros, who are responsible for maintenance, assumed that rainfall would clean it.

In the meantime, condensation that collected on the roof because of sweltering temperatures outside and air conditioning inside attracted fungus, according to scientists. Over the last year, the growth has only spread as discussions dragged on.

"My book club was telling me to get up there and clean it," Gardner said. "But what we wanted was a permanent fix for it. If it was washed, we wanted to make sure it didn't grow back."

Studies conducted by the Department of Energy and funded by roofing manufacturers have found mold on similar materials.

Although the moldy growth is not a risk to human health, the roofing industry is concerned because it reduces the reflectiveness of their products, many of which get an energy conservation certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

_____________________________________

And now a home venue for the Expos

Thanks for the Jets pic Trans...

I had heard they were talking about playing at a remodled Shea but a new stadium down by the water would be a boom for a franchise struggling to get out of the Giants shadow...Never understood how the Jets ever agreed to be the tenants at Giants Stadium in the first place...

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Seattle Seahawks vs Kansas City Chiefs
Superbowl XXXVIII, Reliant Stadium
Houston, Texas
February 1, 2004

Washington Huskies: 2002/2003 Back to Back Northwest Champs

Yep. There were even rumors about a stadium right near Shea, at Willets Point. Anyway, I think that the city and state politicos are pushing this very hard, in part due to the campaign to get the 2012 Summer Games. The mayor and his staff believe that they have to start construction by the middle of 2005 if they want to show the IOC that they can get the facilities up and running.


News out of Vikingsland:


Back to the suburbs? The Vikings, Anoka and a big plan
Jay Weiner, Star Tribune


Imagine a corporate headquarters adjacent to a retail center, a hotel near condominiums, an office complex with a water park. Put it on 400 open acres at 109th Av. NE. and Interstate Hwy. 35W in Blaine, Anoka County.

Place the cherry on top: a Minnesota Vikings stadium.

It's a vision that could reinvent Minnesota's stadium landscape while placing the northern suburbs -- long dismissed as topographically ugly and hopelessly working class -- on the region's cultural radar like never before.

As Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Stadium Screening Committee prepares for its first meeting Tuesday, the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul are poised to battle for a Twins' ballpark. For now, only Eden Prairie will compete with Blaine for a new Vikings' home; in fact, Eden Prairie plans to offer land for either a Vikings or Twins stadium, or both.

Why not?

In the National Football League, the New England Patriots, Washington Redskins, New York Jets and Giants play in the suburbs. The Arizona Cardinals' new stadium is being built outside of Phoenix. The Vikings, of course, first settled on farmland in Bloomington 42 years ago.

Pro football teams usually play only 10 home games a year, mostly on Sundays and not during rush hours. Most teams want large plots of land for massive parking lots and huge parking revenue so fans can tailgate.

Why not 17 miles from downtown Minneapolis, 23 from downtown St. Paul, or 30 from the Mall of America? Why not Anoka County?

That neck of the woods has been the object of derisive jokes for years, recounted even by the likes of Tom Snell, executive director of the Metro North Chamber of Commerce. He has seen dramatic change since taking the reins of the business organization in 1985, a time when no store in the county sold business suits.

When Snell started working for the chamber, he said: "We didn't have listings in the Parade of Homes. It was the Parade of Trailer Parks."

Blaine and Anoka County -- indeed, all of the northern suburbs -- were the poor siblings to the south and southwestern suburbs, which developed sooner and richer, experts say, for two reasons: The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport spawned post-World War II growth, and the lake-filled area west of Minneapolis attracted the region's wealthy movers and shakers.

But Anoka County isn't just pickup trucks anymore.

Drive along Hwy. 65. See shopping centers under construction. Read the signs of housing developments, heralding starting prices of $350,000. Have lunch at the Tournament Players Club, a golf course surrounded by $1 million townhouses. Has your kid been one of the nearly 3 million soccer players a year who compete at the National Sports Center, which is about a mile from the proposed Vikings site? Gaze at the corporate headquarters of Medtronic along I-694.

That's the new Anoka County, ranked by U.S. Census data, as seventh among the nation's 231 most prosperous counties in home ownership and 31st in the nation in median household income, second in the region only to Dakota County.

Now Blaine is ready for a "signature development," with a Vikings' centerpiece, that could cost $1.5 billion.

The plan

It began a year ago when Anoka County Board Chairman Dan Erhart was watching TV. Vikings owner Red McCombs, his hopes of partnering with the University of Minnesota in a stadium dashed, wondered aloud why no suburb had expressed interest in a stadium.

Faster than you could say Purple Pride, Erhart and the county staff called Vikings officials and a long-shot notion began evolving into something that Anoka native Charlie Weaver, Gov. Tim Pawlenty's former chief of staff, says "should be taken very seriously. It's not pie in the sky."

The county and city of Blaine have committed $110,000 to hire consultants, including the Hammes Co. of Brookfield, Wis. Hammes helped refurbish Green Bay's Lambeau Field and is developing the area around Ford Field, home to the Detroit Lions.

Anoka County leaders have established two key principles:

"¢ They will give the Vikings 100 percent of game-day revenues, every dollar from every one of the 22,000 cars that can be parked there, every nickel from every hot dog.

"¢ They have vowed to the county's taxpayers -- and here's the tough part -- that the county will get back, over time, any upfront investment it puts into this mega-project.

"We want to explore what politicians have been hearing from the body politic," said Steve Novak, a former state senator, who is coordinating Anoka County's stadium effort. "Is it possible to do one of these ventures without significant public resources?"

The notion is to create "a stadium district," a concept that Finance Commissioner Dan McElroy, head of the Screening Committee, embraces. Blaine's district would include the corporate headquarters of a major company, the Vikings' own corporate offices and year-round training camp, the hotel, the shopping center and the condos.

Property taxes, stadium district surcharges, in-stadium user fees and development rights in and around the stadium would be captured in a tax-increment-finance-like zone to help pay for the project.

"It may be that it just can't be done without significant state input," Novak said. "If that's the case, we'll say so."

Linking the Vikings stadium with activities at the National Sports Center (NSC), about a mile away, is planned. The NSC, state funded in the 1980s, could provide the youth-sports "public purpose" the Vikings need for state support.

(The Vikings and Thunder soccer team have been talking about teaming up, too, expanding the soccer link to the football stadium picture.)

Stadiums within larger development plans are in vogue. A Twins-related housing and retail development idea is on the drawing board in Minneapolis.

"The days of getting blank checks for stadiums from government entities is over," said Marc Ganis, a stadium consultant from Chicago. "The trend is to find creative ways to get deals done, to think big."

Erhart, who is thinking big, said: "I'd love to be watching 'Monday Night Football' and hear them say, 'We are in Blaine, Minnesota.' "

Mental map

Anoka's motivations for seeking the Vikings are similar to campaigns by mid-size cities such as Greensboro, N.C., or Jacksonville, Fla., to attract major league expansion or relocating franchises: civic recognition and self-esteem.

"They want sports to get them on our mental map," said Mark Rosentraub, a stadium expert at Cleveland State University.

Said Erhart: "We want our people to think we're as good any anybody else, or better."

But Rosentraub warned Erhart to be careful what he wishes for. Pro football's 10 games and a few other events in a big stadium annually can't generate the economic activity needed to attempt to justify public funding in the way baseball, with its 81 home games, can.

That's why St. Paul Mayor Randy Kelly and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak are pouring their energies into attracting the Twins and their potential 2.5 million customers a year, who gather over a six-month period on week nights downtown for dinner before a game and for libations afterward.

The Vikings are an afterthought to the mayors. That's why the team's lobbyists are pointing to the potential for a Major League Soccer franchise, a Super Bowl, an NCAA men's basketball Final Four and other touring events to be held in a new stadium, adding dates to the 10 NFL games.

But Rosentraub has public relations tips for the core cities.

"Moan about how horrible it is for the Vikings to leave the inner city," Rosentraub said. "Then, laugh when they leave. Moan just enough so the other guy takes them."

Side-by-side?

The screening committee will hold its first meeting Tuesday. Its mission is to arrive at site and finance ideas for Twins and Vikings stadiums by Feb. 2.

"Co-location" is a concept the committee will consider; that is, placing Twins and Vikings stadiums on the same plot of land to minimize duplication of infrastructure costs and maximize economic activity for a host community.

The Twins strongly prefer the downtowns, making co-location a substantially urban possibility. But Dave Lindahl, Eden Prairie's economic development manager, said his city will propose a Twins-Vikings dual stadium concept, too.

The Vikings have coveted the State Fairgrounds for adjoining stadiums, but a State Fair spokesman said its board would oppose any stadium efforts.

Developers who own the land for the proposed Twins ballpark near Target Center have second-phase plans for a Vikings stadium.

But Minneapolis officials are privately worried. Recommending two stadiums on their site could save costs and stir excitement. But it could enable political suicide; legislators from communities that don't get stadiums would be expected to vote against a plan that gives two to one community.

"I don't think [co-location] is foreclosed politically," said McElroy, "but it would create robust discussion."

Vikings Executive Vice President Mike Kelly said: "The dynamic may exist wherein [political leaders] would want to benefit multiple communities as opposed to one."

Consultant Ganis said: "Face it, you have to count heads and votes. If you need to spread the development around, the wealth around, to get this done, I'd say do it."

Such maneuvering could only aid a suitor such as Anoka, with its suburban setting and its singular focus on the Vikings. That's why Novak and Erhart figure they have got nothing to lose with their big plan. Besides, the Twin Cities area is rapidly running out of large parcels of open land, and Anoka County has got plenty, relatively cheap -- about $80,000 an acre -- for this project, or something else that is bound to cross their desks soon.

Still, Erhart is eager to get the northern suburbs' a seat at the stadium table.

"It's fine to hunt, if you get a bird or not," said Erhart. "But your real reason for doing it is to get that bird."

Translation: He won't quit until "Monday Night Football" is live from Blaine. Imagine that.





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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/107113865370050.xml



New scoreboard for Jacobs Field

12/11/03



The Indians announced yesterday that the largest scoreboard in North America will grace Jacobs Field next season to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the ballpark.

Daktronics, out of Brookings, S.D., will handle the $7 million project. The Indians will fund the project, but receive credit for the expenditure from Gateway Corporation under the capital repair clause in their lease.

The current scoreboard at Jacobs Field has three separate screens divided by advertising. The new scoreboard will have one full-color screen 36 feet high and 149 feet long.

"The addition of this new integrated display system enhances our ability to inform, educate and entertain our fans, as well as uniquely market the products of our corporate sponsors," said Bob DiBiasio, Indians vice president of public relations.

"This is another example of our continued efforts to have Jacobs Field remain one of the premier sports facilities in America."

The scoreboard is scheduled to be up and running in March.

Daktronics built the original scoreboard at Jacobs Fields. Its work appears in 23 big-league parks and will be featured in the new parks opening in Philadelphia and San Diego next year.

- Paul Hoynes



© 2003 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission.

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http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1071212274140340.xml



We don't need Nets, N.J. sports czar says

State to look at ways to lure baseball team


Friday, December 12, 2003


BY GEORGE E. JORDAN AND MATTHEW FUTTERMAN
Star-Ledger Staff

With the threat of the Nets moving to Brooklyn growing more real by the day, New Jersey's sports czar said yesterday the state would start working on a plan to lure another basketball franchise or Major League Baseball team to the Meadowlands.

"We are going to be just fine," said George Zoffinger, the chief of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and Gov. James E. McGreevey's point man on professional sports. "This market is going to continue to be very attractive for hockey, basketball, even baseball."

Zoffinger then fired a shot at New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who pledged his support Tuesday for a proposed $435 million arena in downtown Brooklyn that could become the Nets' new home.

"New York can allow wealthy sport team owners to feed at the public trough if it wants to, but we are not going to do that," said Zoffinger, who has weaned the Meadowlands Sports Complex off millions in public subsidy.

Jennifer Falk, a spokeswoman for Bloomberg, said the mayor was not using public money, and that "any contribution will have to be financed with taxes generated at the development."

The trash talking came a day after the unveiling of a $2.5 billion Frank Gehry-designed arena, office and residential complex. It was the first major strike in a battle for the Nets that has become the latest skirmish between New York and New Jersey over professional sports. Wednesday afternoon, Zoffinger and Gov. James E. McGreevey unveiled their own plans for a $150 million rail link to the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

The rail link, which could be completed by 2007, is part of a $1.3 billion plan to create a family entertainment and retail complex at the Meadowlands, which is also home to the Devils. The plan would give one of the state's most recognizable landmarks its most significant face-lift in 27 years.

Zoffinger said the state would have plenty of options if the Nets leave.

Plans include installing a $1 million system to convert the 20,000-seat Continental Airlines Arena into a 6,000-seat theater for smaller acts that want an intimate setting. Zoffinger also said the arena's location and the state's offer to finance a $120 million renovation might entice a basketball team to replace the Nets.

Luring a Major League Baseball team to East Rutherford may be more daunting.

Historically, MLB's relocation rules have prohibited teams from moving within 100 miles of an existing franchise unless the affected teams approve the deal. The rules were updated in 1999 to specifically name Bergen, Hudson, Essex and Union as counties where the Yankees and Mets could veto a third team.

But Zoffinger said he has been told a team can move to the Meadowlands if three-quarters of baseball's owners approve it.

"This isn't about trying to grab the Expos," he said of baseball's leading candidate for relocation. "This is about a long-term plan to make this an attractive place for baseball."

The Nets are expected to be sold within 60 days. Bruce Ratner, the man behind the Brooklyn plan, has submitted the highest bid, $275 million. New Jersey developer Charles Kushner and U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine want to keep the team at the Meadowlands and have bid $267.5 million.

On Wednesday, Ratner did not rule out raising his bid because the development hinges on acquiring the team. "We will get the team," Ratner said.

Kushner has raised his bid once, but two associates said the New Jersey group was reluctant to go above $275 million.

Ratner's investors said they can underwrite the Nets purchase price with revenue from 4,500 luxury residences and 2.1 million square feet of office space. Kushner, on the other hand, must make ends meet with conventional ticket sales, naming rights and luxury suites, his associates said.

A committee of YankeeNets investors scrutinizing the bids is expected to select a winner within two months. Any change in ownership requires the approval of 75 percent of NBA owners, who want to see a solid plan to finance an arena something New Jersey has.

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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.sunspot.net/sports/bal-sp.os5016dec16,0,6156738.story?coll=bal-sports-headlines


Camden Yards' day at park becomes a national pastime

Oriole Park: Its mix of old and new touched all the bases with fans, setting off a home run of baseball construction.

By Ed Waldman
Sun Staff
Originally published December 16, 2003



It was never Larry Lucchino's intention to change the way baseball stadiums were built.

It never entered his mind that the old-style brick ballpark, a short walk from the Inner Harbor, in the shadows of the historic B&O warehouse, with glorious views of the Baltimore skyline, would become the impetus for baseball's building boom and the measuring stick by which all new stadiums were judged.

"We just wanted to build a great little ballpark for Baltimore," said Lucchino, then president of the Orioles and now president and chief executive officer of the Boston Red Sox.

"We knew that we had a concept in mind that we liked," he said. "We had no idea that the baseball world would embrace it.

"I do think that's what has happened. I think the evidence is clear from the progeny that developed from Camden Yards throughout the '90s and really into the turn of the century."

When Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in April 1992, it changed more than the way professional sports teams designed their stadiums. It completed the transformation of the Orioles from small-market team to regional franchise and attracted a different kind of fan - the "wine-and-cheese" crowd.

Urban setting

Howard Decker, chief curator of the National Building Museum in Washington, said that Camden Yards helped fans realize again "that baseball is essentially an urban sport. It's about cities.

"The game is shaped by the stadiums, and the stadiums are shaped by their surroundings," said Decker, 54, who grew up attending games at Wrigley Field in Chicago. "Camden Yards helped baseball fans and architects and urban designers - and municipal leaders - realize that this was a very attractive alternative to the stadium in the middle of a sea of cars.

"It had huge impact in helping us to realize that the old-style stadiums that our parents and grandparents grew up with really represented something of extraordinary value."

Counting the two stadiums that are scheduled to open in April 2004 - Petco Park in San Diego and Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia - 14 of the 30 major league teams have or will have stadiums that were built after Camden Yards opened. Eighteen of the NFL's 32 teams have new or essentially rebuilt stadiums since 1992. And all those 32 buildings were constructed for just one sport.

"All across the nation in the '70s, people were building multipurpose stadiums, and most often they were circular, because that was the best compromise geometry for baseball and football," said Joe Spear, senior vice president of Kansas City, Mo.-based HOK Sport + Venue + Event and the architect responsible for designing Camden Yards.

"I think what the Orioles were effective in was saying, 'This is baseball. It's not football. The ballpark should be intimate.' It should be a ballpark, that was one of Larry's catchphrases. In fact, he wouldn't let us say the word 'stadium' when we talked about this project."

Spear said everything fans saw in Camden Yards touched them, and reminded them of the classic ballparks - Ebbets Field, Fenway Park, Wrigley.

And that's what led to the baseball park building boom.

"It had all the right stuff," Spear said. "A lot of the parks that were done in the '60s and '70s had the artificial turf, and it just seems sterile somehow. Camden Yards has a natural grass playing field. It has a view of the skyline. It has the icon of the warehouse. It has the asymmetrical field. It just resonates. It was what the fans had been looking for. It changed everyone else's expectations about what a ballpark should be."

The Orioles began looking at the possibility of a new ballpark immediately after Edward Bennett Williams, a Washington attorney, bought the team in 1979. That "was always part of his vision for a larger, more regional Orioles," Lucchino said.

Williams called Lucchino back from a vacation in August of that year and had him get on a helicopter to scout potential stadium locations in Baltimore and the corridor between Baltimore and Washington. Eventually, 32 possible sites were identified. Six years later, the final decision came down to 200 acres in Lansdowne or 85 acres in the downtown section of the city.

When then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer called Williams and told him he favored the Camden Yards location because it would be the crown on Baltimore's downtown redevelopment effort, Williams took no more than 10 minutes to discuss the decision with Lucchino and call the governor back.

"He hung up the phone and said to me, 'Building a ballpark halfway between Baltimore and Washington is like building a house halfway between your wife and girlfriend. You can't do that. You've got to make a commitment. Let's do the Camden Yards things for all the reasons the governor was talking about,'" Lucchino recalled.

He said the the new location still was a plus for Williams, who was thinking of the club's growing Washington fan base. Yet Williams did not live to see the park built; the presiding owner on Opening Day in 1992 was Eli Jacobs, who bought the team in 1988 from Williams' estate.

The influx of those Washington-area fans, though, has contributed to the perception that Camden Yards ushered in the era of the cell phone-toting, three-piece-suited "fan" who goes to the park because it's the place to go.

Gone were the salad days of 1979 to 1983, when Wild Bill Hagy, fortified with beers from his own cooler, sat up in Memorial Stadium's Section 34 and led the 23,000 or so fans who showed up regularly to the 54,000-seat park in "O-R-I-O-L-E-S" cheers.

Instead, fans in suites could watch the game inside on television, eat finger sandwiches and drink Perrier. Club seat patrons could have microbrews delivered by waiters. Even "regular" fans could stroll the Eutaw Street concourse or take their children to try their luck at speed pitch and other kid-friendly diversions.

The baseball game was only part of the show.

"There was a change, but I don't think it necessarily alienated [hard-core fans]; it just displaced them," Lucchino said. "If you had 48,000 people, 8,000 of them would be sitting in club seats and suites, and at Memorial Stadium there were no such things. ... So you probably had fewer of the upscale folks. But a baseball team needs to appeal across a wide socioeconomic range in order to have the revenue it needs to succeed."

Looking back

Elrod Hendricks has been on the field in an Orioles uniform for 35 years, since 1968. He said there's no question Camden Yards is a quieter place than Memorial Stadium was.

"From '76 on until that stadium closed, that ballpark, starting with Section 34, Wild Bill Hagy and his group up there, they started the cry going, and pretty soon you had lively music, you had a fun atmosphere in the ballpark, which is not the same in Camden as it was in Memorial," he said.

"The true baseball fans were the ones who were over there at Memorial Stadium," he said. "Now you have the coat-and-tie, the sophisticated cell phone-type, business-type people coming to Camden."

Stan "The Fan" Charles, who did sports talk radio for 21 years in Baltimore before relocating to North Carolina nearly two years ago, said there's a good reason the crowds are quieter at Camden Yards, and it has nothing to do with demographics.

"The perception was that at Memorial Stadium, the crowds had an awful lot to do with the energy at the ballpark," he said. "But let's not forget that despite this great new stadium, the biggest problem it has had from the fans' perspective, in my opinion, has been that there haven't been that many magical moments created there.

"I would maintain that Memorial Stadium had all this electricity surrounding it because it had, from 1964-ish until [the Orioles] won it in '66, then through the late '60s, early '70s, even into the '80s, you had a 25-year run of some remarkable baseball teams. That's really what created the magic ... we haven't been able to duplicate."

Player's viewpoint

Whatever the reason, the change was noticeable to the players, said Cal Ripken, who retired in 2001 after playing 10 full seasons at Memorial Stadium and 10 at Camden Yards.

"It was a closer relationship with the fans in Camden Yards. It was intimate, but still it was removed a little bit from Memorial Stadium," he said. "There were two different feelings. In some cases you could say you were more aware of the fans in Camden Yards, because they were closer to you and there were more of them ...

"From a player's perspective, it was exciting as all get up to play in front of a full house and have energetic, loud, enthusiastic fans who could react to the situation in the game.

"I don't know if I can buy into the wine-and-cheese group. That might be an exaggeration. ... I think the same diehards that were at Memorial Stadium came over, and then we had a mix of other people who were curious who weren't in the category of being diehards, so that it became diluted. But I would never say it was a totally different type of people. Baltimore people are Baltimore people."

One thing Camden Yards didn't change, said Ripken, who grew up in Aberdeen and was around the Orioles during childhood with his father, the late Cal Ripken Sr., was the organization's sense of history.

"Even though Memorial Stadium opened up in '54, it didn't have the rich, rich history since 1900 of Fenway, but it had a history that represented the Orioles," he said. "And the Orioles were the model organization looked upon being in the World Series all the time. It was a wonderful history. And everybody really felt that. And Memorial Stadium was tied to that - at least it was tied to that for me.

"When they first started talking about a new stadium, my first reaction was, 'Why? You'll lose all this. Why can't they just fix up the old one?'

"But the first day I walked into Camden Yards, I let go of all those old feelings. I think the big impact was when there were people in the ballpark and you were playing in it. ... There was something really, really special about it."

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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2307025


Inn at Ballpark's location cuts both ways
By RALPH BIVINS
Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle



Most of Houston's off-season baseball news has centered on the Astros signing of pitcher Andy Pettitte and the possible return of hometown hurler Roger Clemens.

But Houston businessman Tilman Fertitta, chairman of Landry's Restaurants, is hoping to catch some of that buzz with some baseball-related news of his own.

Fertitta is preparing to unveil Landry's newest project, a 201-room boutique hotel christened Inn at the Ballpark, across the street from Minute Maid Park.

Fertitta is a big baseball fan. Present at most Astros games, he sits right behind home plate on the first row -- arguably the best seat in the house.

He even admits to dreaming about buying the Astros. Fertitta said he has discussed the possibility with current Astros owner Drayton McLane, although he's never gotten serious enough to make an offer.

For now he's showing his passion for the sport with a $37 million hotel that opens Jan 1.

The hallway carpeting depicts crossed bats, topped by a baseball. The bedspreads have baseball-like stitching. And muted framed prints of baseball action hang in every guest room.

The hotel's meeting rooms are named Fenway, Wrigley and Yankee, after the nation's oldest and most storied stadiums.

Even with the baseball theme, the hotel is meant to come off with sophistication, not with the iconic ambiance of a Little Leaguer's bedroom.

"We have enough of a feel to make it special, but it's very adult," Fertitta said.

The hotel is the redevelopment of 12-story World Trade Center, which was built in 1962. Landry's purchased the building from former Houston Rocket Hakeem Olajuwon about three years ago.

The building was gutted and rebuilt. Landry's bought the remainder of the block and built Vic & Anthony's, a high-end steakhouse.

The hotel, constructed with the aid of about $3 million in local tax abatements and rebates, is an anchor on the eastern end of downtown's Texas Avenue. The Downtown Aquarium, Landry's restaurant and entertainment complex with sharks, aquariums and a Ferris wheel, anchors the western end of Texas Avenue.

The Inn at the Ballpark will need all that charm because it is opening during a slump in the downtown hotel market.

Business travelers have been staying at home, or pinching their pennies, since the terrorist attacks two years ago.

The emptiness in Houston's downtown office buildings, caused in part by the shrinkage at Enron and other energy trading firms, also means there are fewer business travelers to sleep in downtown hotels.

Several new downtown hotels, including the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston, have recently opened or will open in early 2004. That additional supply of rooms will make things even harder for downtown hoteliers, hotel consultant John Keeling of PKF Consulting said.

Year-to-date through the third quarter, local downtown hotel occupancy stood at 52.5 percent, down 10 percent from the first nine months of 2002, according to PKF Consulting.

Through the third quarter, the average daily rate for downtown hotels was $154.92, down 5.1 percent from the comparable period of 2002.

In this environment, hotel room rates are highly negotiable. But the hotel's management expects to quote $200 per night for corporate travelers and $159 per night for a weekend rate.

Another strike against the Inn at the Ballpark is its lack of proximity to a significant number of office buildings. The hotel is on the northeast edge of downtown, away from the central core. It is three blocks from the nearest office tower.

That means the Inn may not appeal to business travelers, who may want to be in hotels across the street from where they are doing business.

"I'm sure it's well-built and well-designed. But it's a challenging location," Keeling said.

Still, Keeling said he was not ready to bet against Fertitta's winning touch.

Landry's also owns a Holiday Inn in Galveston, and a company owned by Fertitta himself, Fertitta Hospitality, owns the San Luis Resort and other hotels. And Fertitta has a reputation for being adept at making money.

"I hate to underestimate Tilman Fertitta," Keeling said.

The Inn at the Ballpark is within walking distance to the George R. Brown Convention Center, and the hotel's operators expect to get convention business as well.

But what the Inn at the Ballpark is really close to is its namesake -- Minute Maid Park.

"If you had a good arm, you could throw a ball and hit it," said the hotel's general manager, John Fechter.

The hotel is expected to sell out for the Major League All-Star Game in July.

But the 81 regular-season Astros games include only 13 weekend series, and that may not be enough to stimulate significant revenues at the Inn, Keeling said.

Fechter said the Inn will make every effort to book traveling teams that will play against the Astros. Traveling baseball teams and their entourage typically occupy 65 to 70 rooms on game nights, said Fechter, who was with the J.W. Marriott Hotel when it was the Houston hostelry for the San Francisco Giants.

Even if the hotel does become the resting place of a big league club, fans shouldn't expect to dial up a ballplayer on the hotel's phone system. The hotels guard the players' privacy, and players use assumed names when registering, Fechter said.

In the broader picture, it is also one of the first fruits from the seeds of redevelopment that were sewn when the baseball stadium opened in 2000.

City fathers promised the new baseball stadium, which was previously called Enron Field, would stimulate rebirth in a part of downtown dominated by vacant lots, run-down buildings and the homeless.

After the stadium opened, Trammell Crow Co. was planning to build a 34-story tower of apartments and office space across the street from the left field wall. But Trammell Crow shelved those plans in late 2001, citing the uncertainty in the downtown realty market because of the decline of Enron Corp.

In 2001, the Hanover Co. built the 375-unit Lofts at the Ballpark apartments, just east of U.S. 59. However, the new Landry's hotel is by far the largest project to blossom near the ballpark.

"We feel like it's a major part of the revival of downtown," Fertitta said.

When plans for the stadium were unveiled about five years ago, a land rush erupted in the northeast part of downtown.

Speculators and developers were all over the place -- buying, reselling and submitting offers for land parcels that had been rejected for years.

Tracts that had been selling for $5 per square foot before the stadium was announced skyrocketed in value. Prices went over $100 per square foot, even up to $120 in some cases, said veteran downtown broker Reggie Bowman of R. Bowman Real Estate.

Many of the land buyers profited by converting the land into parking lots for ballgames, Bowman said. But the vision of the baseball stadium surrounded by wall-to-wall restaurants, nightclubs and new development proved to be a mirage.

"It just hasn't resulted in much construction," Bowman said.

The Inn at the Ballpark is a $37 million exception.

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http://famulus.msnbc.com/famuluscom/bizjournal12-20-010519.asp?bizj=STL


Cardinals owners on $60 million hook to develop Ballpark Village


By Chad Garrison
St. Louis Business Journal


Dec. 22 "” Ballpark Village is still part of the St. Louis Cardinals plans for a new downtown ballpark, but the scale of the project has decreased significantly from two years ago.

Under terms of an agreement the Cardinals entered into with the city of St. Louis' Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority (LCRA), the team's owners are responsible for developing just two blocks of a six-block area that will be cleared following the destruction of Busch Stadium in 2005.

A construction timeline for Ballpark Village, as well as penalties the team would face if it does not complete the project, are spelled out in documents accompanying a $45 million bond issue St. Louis County approved last month. Proceeds of the bond sale, which is scheduled to close concurrently with the Cardinals private financing on Dec. 23, will be used for construction of the ballpark.

The agreement with LCRA requires the Cardinals to ensure that at least $60 million of new development be built on the land immediately north of the new ballpark. The Cardinals do not have to take an equity stake in the development and could find other developers to fund the project. Unlike the ground under the new ballpark, which the Cardinals donated to LCRA, the land under Ballpark Village is owned by the Cardinals.

If the Cardinals have not completed the development by 2012, penalties of $3 million per year would kick in and could continue through 2031, or until $60 million worth of investment or penalties have been paid. Penalties would be paid to the LCRA, which would allocate them to the city's Collector of Revenue for allocation among the city's taxing districts.
Bill DeWitt III, vice president of business development for the Cardinals, said the $60 million in investment represents a low end for development in the area. "We look at Ballpark Village as having much more potential than what the agreement requires," he said. "Just the first building alone would likely cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $45 million to $50 million."

DeWitt said the original concept of Ballpark Village was developed when the Cardinals were attempting to win $100 million in state funding for a largely publicly financed ballpark, and that while the team's development responsibilities for the six-block village have changed, the Cardinals remain committed to Ballpark Village.

Detractors of the ballpark project have another opinion. Fred Lindecke, a spokesman for the Coalition Against Public Funding for Stadiums, said the agreement with LCRA is full of loopholes and ambiguities, and fails to deliver on the Cardinals original concept of Ballpark Village, which included the development of all six blocks of the village at a project cost of around $50 million a block.
"The language of the agreement calls for 'substantial' development to occur by such and such a date and 'complete' development to occur by a later date," Lindecke said. "Well, our question is: Who determines what is 'substantial work' and that enough money has been invested? We are convinced that if it ever gets to that point, it will be the Cardinals and their political allies who make the decision."
Representatives of LCRA could not be reached for comment.

DeWitt said he has been talking with potential developers for the village site but no developer or tenant has committed to the project and won't until financing for the $402 million ballpark is secured.
Developer Richard Baron, whose firm McCormack Baron & Associates constructed and owns the nearby Westin Hotel, said he would like to be one of the developers for the village. His company served as a consultant to the Cardinals when the team first developed the concept for Ballpark Village prior to bringing the ballpark proposal to the state legislature in May 2002.
"If there were an opportunity to get involved, we'd like to help," Baron said. "We haven't had formal conversations, but we hope to have an opportunity to participate in the project in some capacity."

Under the Cardinals current plans for Ballpark Village, construction on the two-block Phase One of the project would begin soon after Busch Stadium is demolished and the new ballpark is completed in 2006, with the first block completed by 2009 and an additional block completed by 2012. Phase One would be located immediately north of the new ballpark and bordered by an extended Clark Street to the south, Broadway to the east, Eighth Street to the west and a new street to the north, approximately one block south of Walnut.
The second phase of development would be located south of the Marriott Hotel complex along Walnut Street. Development of Phase Two of the project will be left to the discretion of the Cardinals owners, and the team would face no penalties if left undeveloped.

DeWitt said he sees no reason why Phase One could not be completely developed within a few years of the opening of the new ballpark. Phase Two, however, depends on market demand, which DeWitt anticipates increasing once the ballpark is completed.
"We think Ballpark Village is going to be something that sparks further development -- whether retail or residential or office -- that supports the entire game-day experience," DeWitt said.

Among the plans the Cardinals have for the Ballpark Village are rooftop views on one of the adjacent buildings, not unlike the buildings surrounding Wrigley Field. Other developments could include office space, condos and apartments as well as retail stores, restaurants and the Cardinals museum. DeWitt said a likely scenario is that the team would donate the land to developers in return for an equity stake in the development as well as some control over the overall development of Ballpark Village.

Originally, the Cardinals were to locate their administrative offices in Ballpark Village, but DeWitt said the team owners are now leaning toward moving the offices into the new ballpark.
The Cardinals owners and its private equity partners will invest more than $270 million into the ballpark, with state tax credits, proceeds from the sale of St. Louis County bonds and the Missouri Department of Transportation covering the balance.


Copyright 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.

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http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/sports/7544675.htm


New stadium may not be so far fetched for 49ers
Mark Purdy Column Title

One more time Sunday, the 49ers will see another team's shiny new toy.

In the National Football League, of course, those new toys all come with luxury boxes and catered club seating.

This weekend, it will be Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, when the 49ers travel there for a game against the Eagles.

But last weekend in Cincinnati, the new toy was Paul Brown Stadium.

And earlier this season, it was Seahawks Stadium in Seattle.

Meanwhile, that wonderful new 49ers stadium? You know, the one approved by San Francisco voters back in 1997?

It remains as real as a Hobbit village. And as invisible as Keyshawn Johnson's modesty.

Or maybe not.

Thursday, owner John York said the 49ers have been re-examining their options in terms of a stadium. And one of those options is a severe remodeling job for Candlestick. That idea was discarded seven or eight years ago in favor of a totally new stadium -- which was supposed to be built in conjunction with a shopping mall on the Candlestick property.

The mall/stadium idea isn't dead. But it might come to life in a different way -- as part of an extreme Candlestick beauty makeover.

''The initial renovation plan didn't make sense,'' York said. ''We've had a group looking at different ways that a renovation might be done, and they've come up with some interesting proposals. I don't know where it will lead. But we're not throwing out anything.''

A firm new stadium proposal, if it emerges, will not happen tomorrow. It might not happen in the next 12 months. But at least York's reconsideration of a Candlestick remodel breathes some life into stadium plans that were thought to be in rigor mortis.

This perception was solidified with the recent announcement that team president Peter Harris will leave after his contract expires next summer. When he was hired in July of 2000, the team said one of Harris' primary duties was the pursuit of a stadium package.

But his negotiations with San Francisco officials, conducted largely under the radar, apparently went nowhere. Harris' departure -- the official explanation was that the decision was mutual -- seemed to cement the common wisdom that the stadium was even more a pipe dream than before.

Not so, said York.

''No. 1, it doesn't mean that Peter Harris failed in any way,'' York said. ''And No. 2, it doesn't mean that the stadium project has been suspended or is still not part of the 49ers' future.''

It apparently means that York (often accompanied by wife and co-owner Denise DeBartolo) has been taking careful notes.

Virtually every 49ers road trip this season has taken York to a stadium that's been constructed in the past 10 years. He has received guided tours of the NFL's latest bells and whistles and enormous video screens. Last month, that included a trip to Green Bay and Lambeau Field. It's the only stadium in the league (built in 1957) that's older than Candlestick (built in 1960).

However, today's Lambeau is a nouveau Lambeau. The original structure has been jazzed up to the tune of $295 million. The nouveau Lambeau includes a massive atrium with restaurants and shops, plus a club level and wider concourses. It made you wonder. Would the same concept work at Candlestick? Not necessarily.

''What makes Candlestick different from Lambeau is, Lambeau really has a perfect football bowl in terms of seating,'' York said. ''So they were able to keep that bowl and build up around that. Candlestick, as you know, doesn't have that sort of seating bowl because it was originally built for baseball.''

Thus, any remodeling plans for Candlestick would likely include just half of the current stadium. The other half would be demolished. But that still could be cheaper than erecting an entirely new facility.

''It's a difficult and complicated issue,'' York said. ''When the first discussions about the stadium were being held, the projected cost was supposed to be less than $300 million. Since then, the estimates have risen, to $450 million or over $500 million.''

The original plan approved by San Francisco voters included a $100 million subsidy. This was supposed to be repaid by sales taxes from the proposed shopping mall. York says the mall developer, Mills Corp., has maintained its interest in the project. But that still doesn't account for the other $350 million or $400 million an entirely new stadium would cost.

A drastic remodel, then, could be the ticket -- particularly with a new San Francisco mayor coming on board in a few weeks, when Gavin Newsom succeeds Willie Brown. A telephone call to the mayor's office, seeking reaction to York's thoughts, was not returned Thursday.

While there has been no clamor for a new stadium among 49ers fans, even the most die-hard Candlestick lover has to notice that in the past couple of years the joint seems to be falling apart. At the end of the day, it is possible that the Plan B remodeling idea won't pan out at Candlestick, and that the Plan A big new stadium idea will go back on the front burner. But something needs to happen eventually.

York is willing to be patient and he hasn't come close to threatening a franchise move. He understands that what's happening on the field is more important. Which is why, in the same interview Thursday, he noted his frustration with the current season.

But he also gave an unsolicited endorsement to the coaching staff (''I am not disappointed in the way Dennis Erickson has handled this team and expect he and the team to get stronger and more productive.''). York also proclaimed his desire to retain all the team's free agents (''We're interested in getting every one of those players back.'') York will be with the team this weekend in Philadelphia as usual.

Which means, as always, he will be watching his team play in someone else's new toy.

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And now a home venue for the Expos

Cardinals finalize financing for new ballpark
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SportsTicker

ST. LOUIS - The St. Louis Cardinals announced on Tuesday that they have the necessary funding in place to build a new ballpark in the downtown area.

The new ballpark is scheduled to open in 2006.

"Today represents the successful completion of the first phase of a project which we believe will result in a major revitalization of downtown St. Louis," said Cardinals chairman and general partner William O. DeWitt Jr. "We sincerely appreciate the assistance of the city of St. Louis, St. Louis county and the state of Missouri who helped make this project possible."

Unlike most other publicly-financed and publicly-owned professional sports facilities, the new home of the Cardinals will be owned by the team and privately financed using a combination of private bonds.

"For the Cardinals to be able to privately finance the new ballpark is a real tribute to Cardinal fans and testament to the strength of St. Louis as a major league baseball market," said Cardinals president Mark Lamping. "This private financing structure would not have been possible without the support of the St. Louis business community via the 10-year purchase commitments of most of the ballpark's 63 suites."

The Cardinals have scheduled the ceremonial groundbreaking for Saturday, January 17 during the team's winter celebration.

"We wanted to include as many fans and current and former Cardinal players as possible in this historic event," Lamping said.

The Cardinals have played at Busch Stadium since 1966.

"PLAY BALL!"

quote:

---

Originally posted by Maury:
There is going to be a bevy of new ballparks over the next 5-10 years. The Twins look to be getting there's, the Marlins are a possibility, and wherever the Expos go they will get a new place to play.

Add in St. Louis, San Diego, and Phillie, and you've got the largest growth in new ballparks we'll see in a while.

---

At least we now know that new ballpark construction will continue through 2006. What comes after that now becomes murky. Miami and Montreal appear to be out completely. So scratch them off the list. The D.C.-Portland deal has been rehashed so many times that I won't add to it.

Now the Minnesota situation looks to be the most interesting. This was the location that I had thought of as "most unlikely". It's not a bad market. They've supported the Vikings through thick and thin (and under the shadow of the Packers ), made the Twins the first American League franchise to reach the 3,000,000 attendence mark in 1988 and is passionate about ice hockey. But history has showed that the residents there were willing to let teams go rather than accomodating the demands of team owners. The Lakers were a Minneapolis team at one time (the name itself should give a clue as to their origins) and most of us know about the North Stars. The year 1997 rolled around and folks rebelled against what was regarded as a very bad plan by owner Carl Pohlad, one that would have heavily use taxes to finance the ballpark. That year, the Twins were coming off several losing seasons, their last glorious period well behind them. Then it was discovered that Pohlad had talks with an investor who wanted to move the team to North Carolina. A referendum was put on the ballot in several counties. That was defeated. However, it was learned that Pohlad didn't had any serious intentions to move but hoped that the move talk would scare the state legislature to give him that stadium. That angered the public even more. Then Jesse Ventura was elected governor. Initially, it ended any talk of the stadium. He even made fun of the issue by half-heartily setting up a "stadium fund" that asked people to send whatever monies they can send to an account set up by the state for that purpose. It was his way of saying that the stadium issue is not an important matter. However, the power brokers in the state, consisting of politicians, business leaders and several private citizens, were working behind the scenes to revive the Twins ballpark issue. It wasn't long before another ballpark plan was proposed. That would have moved them across the river to St. Paul, although Mpls. politicians wanted a new Twins park to stay in their city. Needless to say, that one faced an uphill battle, as they wanted some state assistance for the plan to work. The legislature, fearing renewed anger, wouldn't take up the issue.

The issue looked as good as dead. For a while, things got so bad that Carl Pohlad put the team up for sale, but no serious offers were made. There was a tentative deal made with the owners of the Wild and Timberwolves, contingent on the last ballpark plan passing but that soon evaporated. Then some very interesting stuff started to happen. It was as if positive stuff began to pile up after years of negative stuff piling up. The Twins showed signs of turning around, with young talent beginning to find their way. That at least re-kindled the interest amongst some fairweather fans. It was during that time that the C-word started to rear its ugly head. Now I have not a clue why this would change things in that state whereas other threats didn't, even though rumors already were circulating that the dreaded contraction partner was the Twins. No, I don't believe that they were duped, as people with knowledge about the business of baseball thought that contraction was not going to happen. What must have happened was that enough fans (the fans who still cared after seven years of debacles) concluded that the Twins could go one way or another. So the anti-contraction campaign was started. That was aided tremendously by a court injunction forcing the Twins to abide by the lease they have with the Metrodome. Combined with the players union, it effectively preserved 30 teams.

Meanwhile, a bureaucrat in the Ventura administration came upon an idea on how to finance a ballpark without general taxes. It's based on a complex financial method that uses the difference between the interest rate and the rate of state bonds to raise monies. I'm not sure if I described it right but funny enough another stadium proposal was put before the legislature. The year was 2002. This time, the lawmakers were more amenable, as very little of tax monies would be used. The Twins finally started winning and qualified for the playoffs. So the pendulum swung a bit the other way. Combining the unusual stadium plan and renewed interest, enough momentum was generated that a bill was finally passed and signed into law. But it came with a catch. Language written into the legislation effectively left Mpls. out of the running for the ballpark site. The Twins either had to negotiate again with St. Paul (subject to a city referendum) or not do a deal. Pohlad concluded that the legislation wasn't good enough and it was back to square one.

As things stand today, there's a new governor (someone who voted against when he was a legislator, FYI; so I wonder if he would support any plan) and Jesse Ventura is now a hazy memory. But the ballpark issue is still out there and there's now a Stadium Screening Committee in charge of finding solutions for the Twins as well as other teams. My thinking now is that everyone has tired of this already and they'll do one last try at finding a solution and then all bets are off in case of failure. The Vikings appear to be not as in much distress as the Twins but both still believe they can't compete w/o new stadia.

Sorry for the long rant but I just wanted to fill you in on the ever-fluid situation in Minnesota.

_____________________________________

And now a home venue for the Expos

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20031229&content_id=623552&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb


New name for Big A
'Angel Stadium of Anaheim' to replace Edison Field
By Doug Miller / MLB.com


Edison International made its decision, Arte Moreno made his, and the ballpark on Katella will have a new name in 2004.

The Angels announced Monday that their stadium will be known as Angel Stadium of Anaheim for the 2004 season, ending a naming-rights agreement that called the ballpark Edison International Field of Anaheim since 1998.

When the utility company exercised its option to exit the agreement, the club decided to go back to a non-corporate name for the '04 season.

"Moving forward we will rename the facility Angel Stadium," club president Dennis Kuhl said in a statement.

"The decision is both part of a continuing effort to expand our brand, as well as a return to baseball tradition. The future possibility of a new partnership with a title sponsor remains an option."

The Angels already have made significant strides toward increasing that branding, changing the road uniforms to say "Angels" across the front instead of "Anaheim" and planning for a major upgrade to the outfield scoreboard.

Edison agreed to pay the Angels more than $60 million over a total of 20 years for the naming rights and a package that included advertising and a luxury suite, but the company opted out of the deal Monday, although Kuhl and an Edison official said there was no animosity.

"We appreciate the working relationship we have shared with Edison International during its tenure as our title sponsor," Kuhl said.

"We anticipate a continuing relationship in the future."

Edison chairman John E. Bryson's statement was very similar to Kuhl's.

"We appreciate the sponsorship we have had with the Angels and wish this world-class organization much success in the future," Bryson said.

With the new name, the Angels can concentrate more on bringing their fans in touch with the team's illustrious past.

The team has lately been more vigilant in using the park's nickname, "The Big A," which refers to the towering A-frame scoreboard that used to stand behind the outfield wall but now sits by the freeway in the parking lot.

The Angels also will host a two-day fan festival at Angel Stadium on Feb. 14-15.

Doug Miller is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0102hitops02.html


Pub suit reflects downtown dilemma


Mike Fimea
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 2, 2004 12:00 AM


The court papers tell the story of a contractual dispute between the operator of the former Hi-Tops pub and an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But the difficulty in filling the space near Bank One Ballpark illustrates the dilemma facing many restaurants in downtown Phoenix.

On nights when there are no sporting events, and even after events, the crowds and patrons tend to disappear.

"Downtown Phoenix is 20 years behind everybody," said Chicago-based businessman Harold Rothstein, who ran Hi-Tops for two years.

"We took a beating because we didn't know the area," he said. "There aren't enough people living near the ballpark."

Rothstein's company, Benchwarmers Management Group LLC, has filed a lawsuit against Ballpark Brewery LLC in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Ballpark Brewery is an entity established by the Diamondbacks to operate a sports pub/restaurant in the building at Fourth and Jefferson streets. Diamondbacks President Rich Dozer is managing member of Ballpark Brewery.

The lawsuit, filed Monday, seeks $7.5 million in damages, including $2.5 million for breach of contract and $5 million in potential profits had Hi-Tops been allowed to operate only during Diamondbacks' home games and special events at BOB.

Contacted in Chicago, Rothstein said Ballpark Brewery forced him out of business in January 2003 by abruptly terminating a management agreement, which he said forced Benchwarmers into bankruptcy in March.

"We've been negotiating for months, but they didn't want to share the responsibility for any of the (loan) notes," Rothstein said of Ballpark Brewery. "We even paid a $1 million loan of theirs."

Dozer said he hadn't seen a copy of the lawsuit, but he described the allegations as filled with half-truths.

"I'm pretty surprised since (Hi-Tops) didn't pay their bills for a long time," Dozer said. "They didn't pay their taxes or their vendors."

The original tenant of the building was Leinenkugel's Ballpark Brewery, which opened in 1998. The lawsuit says Leinenkugel's lost more than $2 million in three years.

When Rothstein opened Hi-Tops in January 2001, he introduced an edgier atmosphere. He added late-night music and dancing, a VIP room upstairs and scantily clad waitresses who occasionally danced atop the bar.

"I went to Leinenkugel's in 2000 on a Wednesday night after a Dodgers game and there were 15 people there," Rothstein recalled. "The next year we had 400 people on a Wednesday after a Dodgers game. I knew I was doing something right."

Although the Diamondbacks won the World Series in 2001, Hi-Tops' first year, court papers claim Benchwarmers lost more than $500,000 that year. Rothstein learned that if the Diamondbacks weren't playing at BOB, business dwindled to virtually nothing. Receipts were equally bleak after baseball season ended.

"The foot traffic to the (America West) arena didn't walk by Hi-Tops," Rothstein said of the Suns' facility two blocks to the west. "Fans would park in the garage next to the arena and never come by our side of the street."

The restaurants that benefited from arena patrons are facing a possible drop-off now that the Phoenix Coyotes have moved to their new arena in Glendale.

A.J. Sulka, part owner of Majerle's, says the impact will be bigger than people think.

"You're talking 40 to 45 (hockey games) with 10,000 to 15,000 people each. That's a lot of foot traffic," Sulka said.

"We were packed when teams like the Red Wings and the Blackhawks were in town. Losing that many events will be hard in the short term."

Bob Dugan, manager of Cooper'Stown at 101 E. Jackson St., said the Coyotes' move from downtown means a loss of 40 percent of his business.

He plans to continue to serve Diamondbacks and Suns fans and concertgoers.

"When you get right down to it, there's no replacement for the Coyotes and their fans. . . . It's hard to replace 40 percent of your business."

The Hard Rock Cafe plans an advertising tie-in with the Diamondbacks next season, general manager Kurt Berry said. The restaurant also intends to bring in more live music, including a tentative plan to close off Second Street north of Jefferson for two concerts featuring national recording artists on the level of George Thorogood and the B-52s.

"Did the Coyotes' leaving impact us? Absolutely," Berry said. "We'll have to be very creative and re-analyze our marketing strategy."

Ballpark Brewery, after cutting ties with Rothstein, reopened the Hi-Tops space as McFadden's Sports Pub in time for the 2003 baseball season. McFadden's temporarily closed about a month after the season ended. Dozer said the business is acquiring a new liquor license and doing some remodeling and will reopen in time for the baseball season.

"They did well, with a lot of volume," Dozer said. "They kept the core business of serving simple food and drinks."

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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/010204dnmetstadium.e967.html


<font size="3">Vote on Cowboys stadium may wait</font>

Concerns raised that '04 ballot may be too full for Cowboys item


07:06 AM CST on Friday, January 2, 2004

By DAVE MICHAELS / The Dallas Morning News


In Dallas County, 2004 was to be the year of the bountiful ballot. Voters would reap a copious crop of candidates for president, Congress, the Legislature and Commissioners Court, along with an eye-catching referendum on a new stadium for the Dallas Cowboys.

But some Republicans, concerned that the cornucopia may be too full, are discussing whether to delay a vote on public financing for the Cowboys stadium.

"I don't want to get the stadium issue, and the site issues of that mixed up in the partisan politics of a presidential election," County Commissioner Jim Jackson said.

"I think people have enough stuff to consider in 2004 without getting involved in this."

The Cowboys have been pushing for as much as $450 million in hotel and car-rental taxes to construct their new stadium, which could go in either Dallas or Irving. Negotiations for a public-private partnership with Dallas County could begin as early as late February or early March, county officials said. The team has said it would hope to have a new home by 2009.

Because the deal would trigger higher taxes countywide, voters will have a chance to vote the deal up or down.

Political considerations could put off the referendum until 2005.

Public money for sports arenas is a touchy subject with voters. Some have said those who oppose a stadium could take out their frustration on Republicans, who hold the majority of elective county offices.

"What if the president thinks the people who would vote for a stadium would not vote for the president?" County Judge Margaret Keliher said.

Ms. Keliher and others also argued that each type of election – local, statewide and national – has its core group of interested voters. They said that holding the stadium vote on another date could maximize the number of informed voters who participate in the referendum.

"There are a lot of people who don't feel they have any input into who the president is," Ms. Keliher said. "But whether or not there should be a Cowboys stadium – that is much more emotional and in their own back yard."

Brett Daniels, a Cowboys spokesman, said the team has not settled on a preferred date for the referendum. He called November 2004 a "potential target date" but said such details would be worked out with county commissioners.

"We are just looking forward to sitting down and working through these things after the holidays," Mr. Daniels said.

Support for '04 vote

Commissioner John Wiley Price, the lone Democrat on the Commissioners Court, said he thinks the referendum should take place in 2004. A presidential election typically draws a higher turnout than any other election, he said.
"The more stakeholders I get at the meeting – which is the election – the better," he said.

Mr. Jackson, who is retiring from county government, said he is the chief advocate of delaying a referendum. Ms. Keliher and Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield said they're considering the option but have not made a decision.

Some opponents of a publicly financed stadium for the Cowboys said they thought the Cowboys wanted the later referendum. No Jones Tax, a group led by Dave Capps, the owner of a car-rental company, favors a referendum on the date of the presidential election.

"I think one reason he [team owner Jerry Jones] does not want to have it then is because the advertising cost will be huge," Mr. Capps said. "He is not a political candidate, so he has to pay full rate for television. He has everything to gain by shoving it out."

Commissioner Mike Cantrell cautioned that the county would have to move fast to make a November deadline. If the Cowboys proposed a deal in March, commissioners would have about five months to negotiate.

They would then have to spend a month or two trying to persuade voters to pass the referendum, political analysts said.

"Everything would have to be a full-court press to get it done," said Mr. Cantrell, who still favors a November election. "But I think it probably could be done."

Legal counsel named

Commissioners have begun assembling their Cabinet of arena advisers. They have named the Houston-based law firm of Andrews & Kurth as their legal counsel.

Andrews & Kurth negotiated the major contracts and lease agreements for the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, which built three arenas in Houston – Minute Maid Park for baseball, Reliant Stadium for football and Toyota Center for basketball.

The commissioners, in unanimously selecting Andrews & Kurth, turned down Vinson & Elkins and its attorney, Ray Hutchison, who has negotiated stadium deals in North Texas for 30 years.

Mr. Hutchison expressed surprise last week that Andrews & Kurth had been selected, saying he was informed 30 minutes after his presentation to the commissioners that they had chosen another firm.

As the county's longtime counsel on bond issues, Mr. Hutchison had been informally advising the court on stadium matters for the last several months.

He criticized the deals that Andrews & Kurth struck in Houston. The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority has been placed under credit watch, he noted, and its lawyers failed to secure guarantees from the sports clubs that team owners would cover any cost overruns or enhancements to the stadiums.

"My approach was you do not expose the taxpayers to that kind of risk," Mr. Hutchison said.

Gene L. Locke, a partner at Andrews & Kurth and general counsel for the sports authority, said the Houston projects were all "on time and within the budgets set." His firm will secure a deal with the Cowboys that conforms to county commissioners' goals, he said.

Officials of the Harris County sports authority argued there were not cost overruns at the stadiums.

Additional funds were spent for enhancements requested by the teams, which paid for the changes with their own revenues.

The sports authority was placed under credit watch because hotel and car-rental tax revenues declined, but the bonds that paid for the stadiums are insured, said Billy Burge, the chairman of the sports authority.

Ms. Keliher said Andrews & Kurth would do a good job representing the county.

"This is a community project," Ms. Keliher said. "If the Commissioners Court decides it should go out for a vote, it would be better if all the community would be supportive, and that includes Vinson & Elkins and other elected officials."

E-mail dmichaels@dallasnews.com

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And now a home venue for the Expos

http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/canepa/20040106-9999_1s6canepa.html


Padres' new digs are fun, fan-friendly


PETCO PARK – This is not a dog, or a doghouse. It is a place apart. It is like nothing else in Southern California, certainly not in San Diego. And, given the way the Chargers and the City Hallers pull hair, we may never get a chance to see anything else around here resembling the Padres' new downtown digs.

Naysayers, take a look. It is spectacular. Downtown is getting something more than botox. A total makeover. It never will be the same again.

Here, the plumbing actually works. The sewer lines aren't breaking. The stands aren't sinking. It doesn't leak. It is **** close to a perfect baseball place.

It isn't just unique to San Diego. It's unique, period. Cookie cutters remained in the drawer. It is a spirited architectural blend of old and new, something done right for a change.

This is what former club CEO Larry Lucchino had in mind from the beginning, and after some tweaks here and there and some setbacks through nuisance lawsuits, it got done, even though Lucchino left town before his vision was 20-20.

It's close now. Yesterday, 94 days before the Padres are scheduled to play their first game in the ballpark, the franchise moved into its new offices. And there were dozens of employees moving around inside, mingling with the hard hats putting the finishing touches on the joint.

The office area is large and well-appointed. It's new, you know, and more than big enough to house the 150 workers not involved with on-the-field activities. A distant shout from the time before John Moores and Lucchino took over the team, when you could throw a rock down the halls and not hit anybody.

**** Freeman, club president once more, served in that capacity from 1988-95 before leaving for the Pirates organization – and then returning in 2002. He notices the difference.

"My guess is that we've at least doubled since I first started here," Freeman was saying after knocking the phone off his desk. "I would guess there were 60, maybe 65 people in the front office then."

I met up with general manager Kevin Towers, who is trying to find his way around the office part of the structure, and he was kind enough to take me on the dime tour.

We entered the spacious weight room. All new equipment. "At Qualcomm, you'd be working out and it would smell like a grease trap," Towers sniffs.

The office manager Bruce Bochy will occupy is far from the closet he had at Qualcomm. The training room is equipped with two full Jacuzzis and a small swimming pool.

Just this side of the clubhouse is a sauna. "This will be good for David Wells," Towers says. "This could be his locker."

The oval-shaped clubhouse is enormous and state of the art. "There will be 13 TVs in here, all HDTV," the GM says. "And there's a separate interview room here. Players are going to want to stick around here."

Adjacent to the clubhouse there is a restaurant and lounge area for the Founders Club patrons who will sit behind home plate. Behind one wall are the batting cages, and the fans will be able to watch the players hit through one-way glass.

"They can see the players," Towers says. "The players can't see them."

Outside of this room, just above the dugout, these fans actually will be able to mingle with players. "This is something Larry wanted," Towers says, "fan-player interaction."

There is a video room right behind the dugout, not in the clubhouse, as in Qualcomm. There, players can immediately view their last at-bat.

But then you walk down the ramp into the dugout and look out, and it is nothing short of spectacular, the park itself, and the view beyond center field toward downtown. Planes are about to land.

The only thing that could have made this better would have been if the stands faced the harbor, but geography made that impossible. Still, in many spots, there are bay views.

Towers, doing a lot of pointing, motions toward home plate. "The shortest distance in baseball between home plate and the fans," he says. "Forty feet. Everything comes out toward the field."

As we circle the field, it's obvious that left and right fielders – especially those in right – are going to be playing a lot of angles, like billiards. It's 7 feet from the left-field foul line to the wall in front of the stands. "Outfielders are going to hit the brakes in a hurry," Towers figures.

Fans basically will be able to reach out and touch pitchers as they warm up in the bullpen. There is a sandy area behind the right-field fence, where beach volleyball can be played before games. A Diamondvision board will face away from the park, so those not inside can watch the games from beyond center field.

Space. So much of it. The concourses are very wide, unlike those at San Francisco's PacBell. The asymmetrical field itself is short at the corners, drops off to 411 feet in right center and 395 feet straightaway.

I wonder aloud if this will be a hitter's or pitcher's park.

"I don't know," Towers says. "I hope it's a pitcher's park, but with very little foul territory, it could be a hitter's park. I don't know how the wind will affect it, or being close to the water. It could be ever-changing as buildings are built around it.

"But, tell you what, it's going to be fun to come here."

Fun. Considering our pro sports teams, there's a novel thought in this town.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------


http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/01/06/sports/professional/1_5_0422_06_42.txt


Moving Day - Padres staff sets up shop at Petco Park

By:SHAUN O'NEILL - Staff Writer

SAN DIEGO ---- Symbolic of the optimism that pervades the Padres' organization as it settles into Petco Park, one of the few glitches of move-in day Monday was the morning sun shining through office windows.

It was too bright.

The Padres have been able to scratch a catcher and a starting pitcher off their winter shopping list. Now they must pencil in window blinds.


A few hours of squinting, however, did little to temper the enthusiasm of the day. Padres employees returned to work following their two-week holiday break to a new building, new desks, new cubicles and new computers. Every change was a reminder that 2004 marks a new era in franchise history.

"We've come a long way, baby," said Priscilla Oppenheimer, the club's director of minor-league operations who will mark her 21st anniversary with the team this year.

The Padres have had three bases of operations in Oppenheimer's time with the club. They started in cramped quarters at Qualcomm Stadium, jammed into office space down the left-field line underneath the stands.

"Skunks would get in there at night," Oppenheimer recalled. "Some days, you'd come to work and the smell was so bad you just couldn't bear it."

In 1997, the Padres were displaced by the Qualcomm Stadium expansion. They moved about a mile west to a Mission Valley office building. Their "temporary" stay lasted six years, as lawsuits and scandal held up construction of the downtown ballpark and delayed the project two years.

It was a logistical headache as the Padres' front-office workers ---- from marketing to community relations to baseball operations ---- had to jump into their cars to talk to players or fulfill any game-day obligations. And it caused a schism as some departments ---- ticket sales, video productions and the clubhouse staff ---- still worked primarily at the stadium.

"It's nice to have everybody under one roof," Padres farm director Tye Waller said.

The Padres' employees gathered for a welcome breakfast Monday morning; then it was time to unpack. The heavy lifting had been done during the holiday break ---- the seasonal nature of the baseball business has allowed for an extended shutdown at the end of each year ---- but there were plenty of boxes scattered about the new office Monday.

Still, most of the computers were hooked up properly and the new telephone lines were working. So those who had work to do immediately were able to do it. That includes general manager Kevin Towers, who spent much of the day working on an impending trade with the Seattle Mariners.

"It's been a little hectic here," Towers said. "I'm still trying to figure out these phones. But it's going to be great to have everybody together in one place and to have clubhouse access, to be able to go downstairs and talk to Boch (manager Bruce Bochy), the training staff, the players.

"Heck, it will be nice just to be able to go outside, sit in the stands and have lunch."

With the move, Towers traded in a view of the Interstate 805 overpass for one of the harbor.

Those ranking a bit lower on the corporate ladder have no window space at all. And no employees have offices facing the field ---- that space is at a premium, reserved for revenue-producing luxury boxes.

Although Monday was a key day for Padres employees, the new offices remain difficult to access for the general public. Petco Park still is a construction zone, and on-site parking is restricted.

Erik Judson, the team's vice president for development, said the project should be essentially complete by mid-February. The concourse in front of the park, where the ticket office is located, should be open by then. Players should get a chance to work out on the field before the end of this month. The first scheduled event is San Diego State's baseball game against the University of Houston on March 11.

But for all those who draw a Padres paycheck, Petco Park opened Monday.

"I can't say enough about all the hard work that went into this," Judson said. "We have marked a lot of milestones to let people know about the progress that has been made down here. This is something tangible."

_____________________________________

And now a home venue for the Expos