Boston developer Joe Corcoran is pushing his $800M plan for
a convention center, baseball park, and football stadium in an
area called Crosstown.  The Red Sox and Corcoran's group have
been talking "behind the scenes" for months.  Red Sox CEO John
Harrington: "We want a new ballpark and when these labor problems
are over in baseball, we will focus a lot more attention on
that."  Corcoran's idea is to have the Sox "develop their own
stadium with their own investors."  The Boston Redevelopment
Authority was to begin talks this week on a convention center and
sites for the teams (Will McDonough, BOSTON GLOBE, 10/6).

     The Packers must decide in January on whether to renew the
lease at County Stadium.  The Packers play four games in
Milwaukee, but lose an estimated $1.6M a game on ticket sales,
higher rent and and a cut in concession revenue.  Packers
President Bob Harlan is holding off on a decision, waiting to see
if Milwaukee builds a new stadium, but stadium plans are on hold
until the baseball strike is settled.  "The betting around Green
Bay is that Harlan will not renew the lease," which would create
a problem of what to do with the 48,000 season ticket holders in
Milwaukee, "few of whom have tickets to Lambeau Field, which has
a separate ticket list and is sold out for every game" (Paul
Attner, THE SPORTING NEWS, 10/10 issue).

     In an examination of the new stadium deal between the Saints
and the Superdome, Jeffrey Meitrodt writes that an "unusual part"
is the escape clause.  If, for whatever reason, the team leaves
New Orleans before 2006, Saints owner Tom Benson would have to
pay $25M, after which the penalty would decline by $1M per year
providing for a minimum penalty of $13M.  Under the previous
deal, the most Benson could be penalized was $1M.  The new lease
runs through 2018 (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 10/6).

     Last Sunday, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue floated the
possibility of the league helping finance a new stadium in the
Los Angeles area as a way of keeping the Rams and Raiders from
leaving the nation's No. 2 media market.
     In an interview with THE SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY, Marc Ganis,
president of Sportscorp, Ltd., and an expert on football
facilities, says that while the Coliseum is a better-than-average
facility, the Raiders are at a disadvantage compared to
franchises in smaller markets.
     THE DAILY:  Tell us about the state of stadium
infrastructure in the NFL.
     GANIS:  Generally, it appears the smaller market locations
have new, better revenue-producing stadiums than the larger
markets with the older stadiums.  You've got two of the best
markets in the country, Los Angeles, the No. 2 market, and
Washington, the No. 6 market, and those are the only two
locations in the NFL that don't have any luxury suites. ... After
the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars go through their
three years with only a portion of the television revenue, they
are going to be better off financially than the Giants, Jets,
Bears, Raiders, Rams.  That is an anomaly that is a very strange
situation.
     THE DAILY:  Why is this?
     GANIS:  You have municipalities that desperately want NFL
football, want to secure it or retain it, and will step up to the
plate and put up some serious tax dollars to help a stadium be
built.  In other instances, you have a city like Chicago.  The
Bears are an incredibly hot property, but there is no credible
threat that they will move out of the marketplace. ... There is
no incentive to get the public sector to act -- and that is part
of the problem in L.A.  In Southern California, and the L.A. area
in particular, there is a lot to do.  Football is not the be-all-
and-end-all. ... The idea of spending money on a sports stadium
is considered laughable to many political leaders. ... So then,
the league is left in a difficult situation where you have teams
that are at a financial competitive disadvantage, like the
Raiders and the Rams, but they are playing in large markets that
are needed to keep the national TV revenue up.
     THE DAILY:  What about Tagliabue's L.A. idea?
     GANIS:  The NFL proposal is realistic.  You may just have to
look down the road, it is not like in Jacksonville where the day
after they got the team, they started reconstruction of the
stadium. ... [But] I have heard from some of the owners that if
you start helping one financially, where is mine? ... You can
certainly see Robert Kraft, who paid something like $150 million
for the Patriots, playing in a stadium that is acknowledged by
Paul Tagliabue as being poorly located and a poor facility,
saying, "It's nice you are helping L.A., but when you are done
can you help me please?"

     THE SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY has compiled information on the
NFL's stadiums and begins the first of an occasional series of
stadium profiles today with the L.A. Coliseum.
STADIUM:       L.A. Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
AGE:Completed in 1923.  Raiders began play in 1982.
CAPACITY:  67,000 for the Raiders (94,000 for USC)
LUXURY BOXES:  None.  The present one-year lease says the Raiders
               can play '94 rent-free, with 8% of gross ticket
               sales going towards a fund for possible luxury box
               development.  If luxury boxes are not developed,
               the Raiders retain the funds.
OWNERSHIP:Owned by the City/County of Los Angeles, and the State
of California.
MANAGEMENT:    The L.A. Coliseum Commission, with some duties
               sub-contracted out to Spectacor Management.
RENOVATION:Recent earthquake renovation of $60M from FEMA. '93
renovation of $15M for lower playing field, track removal, 8,400
additional seats, and 2,300 additional spots in the pavilion
section.
ADVERTISING:   All ad revenues sold by the Commission.
CONCESSIONS:   Volume Services Catering.  40% goes to the
               stadium, with 50% of that split with the Raiders.
PARKING:  7,000 parking spots overseen by the Coliseum.  $9 per
car.  All revenue goes to the state.
LEASE:One year lease, expires in August '95
     (Source: Sean Karmody/Pat Lynch, L.A. Coliseum Commission)