PING: Vikings, Colts, and Chargers Fans

[albionmoonlight]

And anyone else who finds their team in the Los Angeles Lottery.

Here's the latest on the Saints' part in the saga/farce. The parties claim to want something decided by March 1st. Theoretically, that would be the date by which we knew whether we were staying or whether the owner would start shopping the team to L.A. buyers (I don't think that he would want to be the one to move the team). Of course, previous deadlines have not meant anything to the team or the state, so take it for what it is worth.

FWIW, I would feel good if I were a fan of one of your teams. The rumor mill down home does not look very optimistic from what I am hearing. :(



http://www.wwl.com/news.asp

SAINTS HOPE FOR AGREEMENT IN PRINCIPAL IN TWO WEEKS

The New Orleans Saints want a deal in principal with the state by March 1. Team officials have said the timeline is important, so they can go to the NFL spring meeting with good news and bid for a Super Bowl.

Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco says they have put a proposal on the table and are waiting for the Saints' official response. She says she's asked Saints Owner Tom Benson to take into consideration all the needs of the state: “Remember that we’re trying to fund education, we’re trying to take care of the elderly, we’re trying to take care of health care needs, and we have huge budget challenges.”

Blanco told WWL television that the state’s offer is “generous.” Blanco has offered the Saints Superdome upgrades to increase premium-seating revenue that the Saints do not have to share with the rest of the NFL, in exchange for the Saints accepting reduced annual payments and helping the state to pay for the Superdome’s upgrades.

Neither side has commented on the progress of negotiations. Both sides are sticking to a self-imposed blackout while talks continue.

[Joe]

I thought the Colts are in the process of getting a new stadium?

[spleen1015]

The Colts aren't going any where.

[albionmoonlight]

I thought the Colts are in the process of getting a new stadium?
Last I heard was

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/football/nfl/01/20/bc.fbn.coltsstadium.ap/

[albionmoonlight]

dola--

And I trust Jim Irsay about as far as I can throw him. The Colts may stay, but it is no more of a lock than any of the other teams with issues. As noted above, however, I fear that the Saints may be the most likely team to move at this point.

[kurtism]

FWIW, the Indiana House of Reps rejected the financing plan for the new stadium this week (apparently some opposition to slot machines downtown, who knew?). At this point, the new stadium is suffering from a severe lack of funds...

[WSUCougar]

I swear to God, if the Vikings move to LA I may never watch them again.

[cuervo72]

NOOOOO! Not a raise in shrimp prices!!!!

[Franklinnoble]

The Colts aren't going any where.


March 28, 1984.

[Surtt]

I swear to God, if the Vikings move to LA I may never watch them again.

I swear to God, if the Vikings move to LA I'll never watch the NFL again.

[sovereignstar]

The thing that the Vikings have going for them is that they've got a stadium lease to abide to (all the way to 2011). Have fun trying to break that.

[albionmoonlight]

The thing that the Vikings have going for them is that they've got a stadium lease to abide to (all the way to 2011). Have fun trying to break that.
No contract is unbreakable. They may have to pay the city/state a ton of damages to get out of it--but in the end, a court can't really make you stay.

If you sign a year lease at your apartment and leave after a month, your landlord may be able to get the missed rent from you, but he cannot force you to physically be in the building.

(Yes, I know that stadium leases are not the same thing as personal leases, but the general point remains. Efficient breaches of contract are done all of the time, and as long as there is enough $$ to make everyone happy, courts won't force people to do what they don't want to do.)

If the Vikings/Saints/Colts/Chargers/Whomever can make enough money by moving to LA to keep making a profit while paying off the damages to the old city, there is no reason they could not do it.

[sovereignstar]

No contract is unbreakable. They may have to pay the city/state a ton of damages to get out of it--but in the end, a court can't really make you stay.

If you sign a year lease at your apartment and leave after a month, your landlord may be able to get the missed rent from you, but he cannot force you to physically be in the building.

(Yes, I know that stadium leases are not the same thing as personal leases, but the general point remains. Efficient breaches of contract are done all of the time, and as long as there is enough $$ to make everyone happy, courts won't force people to do what they don't want to do.)

If the Vikings/Saints/Colts/Chargers/Whomever can make enough money by moving to LA to keep making a profit while paying off the damages to the old city, there is no reason they could not do it.

Fair enough. Take this for whatever it's worth.

http://www.citypages.com/databank/24/1200/article11716.asp

According to MSFC executive director Bill Lester, because of specific provisions in the lease, the Vikings couldn't prevail in court even if the team was willing to compensate the commission for any lost revenue by leaving the Dome. And besides that, Lester adds, the commission also has a separate 30-year pact with the NFL, "and NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue is on record as saying the league honors its commitments."

[albionmoonlight]

Fair enough. Take this for whatever it's worth.

http://www.citypages.com/databank/24/1200/article11716.asp
If that's true, then it was really really good work by the city lawyers. That's why they get paid the big bucks, I suppose. That, and because lawyers are great.

[Surtt]

If the Vikings/Saints/Colts/Chargers/Whomever can make enough money by moving to LA to keep making a profit while paying off the damages to the old city, there is no reason they could not do it.


I believe there is a contract between the state on Minnesota and the NFL that requires, if the Vikings leave, a team to replace them within 3 years.

This was part of the original Metronome agreement and runs tell the end of the lease.

[albionmoonlight]

Decent news, though you never know until the contract is signed.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/football/nfl/02/28/bc.fbn.saints.state.ap/index.html

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- One day before a deadline the New Orleans Saints (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/teams/saints) had set in their stadium negotiations with the state, team owner Tom Benson said the positive tone of the talks had prompted him to extend discussions beyond March 1.

"All deadlines have been eliminated and it is hoped that a new agreement will be reached before the upcoming legislative session" in April, the Saints said in a written statement Monday afternoon.

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The original deadline of March first had been established in order for the Saints to update the NFL about the Saints' long-term status at the league's upcoming annual meeting.

As chairman of the NFL Finance Committee, Benson will still make a report to the league and its ownership at the meetings regarding the status of the current negotiations.

The state wants to replace an agreement reached under the administration of former Gov. Mike Foster, which has forced Louisiana to borrow money to make the annual payments called for by the deal. Those payments will escalate to $23.5 million in the last years of the 10-year deal, which took effect in 2002.

The Saints want a long-term deal and so far have dropped one significant demand, with Benson saying he is willing to stay in a renovated Superdome rather than demand a new stadium. The sticking point is expected to be Gov. Kathleen Blanco's demand that the team bear some of the costs of renovations or accept lower cash subsidies after renovations are complete.