Post by TheShadow on Dec 14, 2005 20:10:14 GMT -5
www.contracostatimes.com
By Cam Inman
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Inside the NFL
Did you hear the one about the New York Giants and Jets? They're going in together on a new pad, a $1 billion stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
If they can build it, can the 49ers and Raiders come up with one, too? Go ahead and have fun imagining a Treasure Island retreat, an escape to Alcatraz or a field atop a Carnival cruise ship docked at Pier 39 and Jack London Square.
Let your imagination run wild. That's as far as many stadium projects seem to go, anyway, until financial woes spoil the fun. At least that's what's dragged on with the 49ers, and don't forget that the Jets had a proposed Manhattan stadium project fall apart only six months ago.
But it's hard to imagine John York and Al Davis going almost Dutch on a $1 billion crib. It's too bad, because it could become a Bay Area centerpiece, a sure-fire Super Bowl draw, a marketer's dream to sell off luxury suites and bring in corporate bucks for two of the league's most storied yet floundering franchises.
The Raiders' lease does expire in 2011 at the McAfee Coliseum, but surely they wouldn't dare bunk up with the 49ers.
It's believed the Raiders stiff-armed that idea a long time ago when the 49ers brought it up during their seemingly endless stadium search. A Raiders executive who requested anonymity didn't recall any 49ers proposal, however, and said no serious discussions have taken place with the 49ers regarding a joint stadium.
The Giants/Jets venture at least has some legs to it. Their executives unveiled preliminary (key word there) plans Monday to replace 29-year-old Giants Stadium, the home they already share.
"This marks an important day, because we have made substantial progress in bringing this 50-50 project to paper," Jets owner Woody Johnson said at Monday's news conference.
Bringing the 82,000-seat stadium into existence by 2010, however, will have its hurdles. There's debate about giving it a roof, selling personal-seat licenses (Raiders fans, insert "Uggh" here) and adjoining it to an entertainment/mall complex (49ers fans, insert "Uggh").
Oh, a little something called financing could be a problem, too, since tax dollars aren't going toward construction costs, other than New Jersey donating the land (located between Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Racetrack) and infrastructure improvements. Giants and Jets execs are hoping to secure some $300 million in financial aid from the league's G3 stadium-loan program.
That's the same slush fund the 49ers would like to tap into for their stalled stadium plan. York, through a team spokesman, declined to comment Tuesday about the Giants/Jets proposal because he felt it "is not his deal." Which begs the obvious question: What is up with his deal? In short, there's no progress to report on the 49ers stadium front, team officials said.
But on York's way out of Monster Park after last month's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, he was asked how his team and its stadium plans might be affected by the NFL's desire to return to Los Angeles. He said he had no interest in either the 49ers moving there or even the league returning to that market, which was vacated by the Raiders and Rams after the 1994 season.
"We've talked about getting a stadium done here," York said then. "We're going to get that done. I'm more interested in making that happen."
The 49ers and their Gotham cohorts aren't alone in their quests to find Shangri-La as did Dan Snyder, whose Washington Redskins reportedly grossed $300 million last year with help from their expanded 91,665-seat stadium.
New stadiums already are in the works for the Arizona Cardinals (opening in 2006, costing $355 million), Indianapolis Colts (2008, $500 million) and Dallas Cowboys (2009, $650 million). The Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers are looking to build stadiums that would cost between $500 million and $600 million, but they're still rallying for public support.
No team is in more need of a new home than the New Orleans Saints. The Superdome needs an extreme makeover after Hurricane Katrina, but the Saints still might flee elsewhere.
Commissioner Paul Tagliabue is holding firm that the Saints shouldn't leave Louisiana and that Los Angeles isn't an option for them next season. He said so last month in a news conference at Los Angeles City Hall, where he was announcing the Coliseum as the leading site to host the NFL's return in "2009, 2010 or 2000-whatever."
He hasn't forgotten about the state's other three teams, though.
"I've said before that one of our priorities is to not only get a team here (in Los Angeles)," Tagliabue said, "but to get better facilities for our teams in San Diego, Oakland and San Francisco."
Saying so is one thing. Following through is another. After all, Tagliabue was in Los Angeles six years ago to announce that an expansion team would be coming there. That franchise, though, went to a higher bidder, Houston.
Imagine that.