The Tampa City Council decided yesterday to delay a vote on
a proposed two-year guarantee that city would ensure the Bucs
draw at least 55,000 per game. The delay was due to confusion
over whether the public would pay $15 or $20 for the Bucs least
expensive ticket (Richard Danielson, ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 5/26).
According to today's TAMPA TRIBUNE, the confusion has prompted
city officials to call for a rewrite of the agreement to "limit
taxpayer risk." The confusion began earlier this week when
officials learned the lowest ticket price offered by the team is
$20. County commissioners had approved the plan May 3 based on a
$15 lowest ticket price. Although Tampa Sports Authority
officials predict attendance for Bucs games over the next two
years will take taxpayers "off the hook" entirely, the "maximum"
taxpayer risk under changes to the agreement requested is $3M
(Koehn and Walker, TAMPA TRIBUNE, 5/26).
NEW STADIUM CHEAPER: The cost of renovating Tampa Stadium
has "now risen higher" than building a new stadium from scratch,
according to the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES. Architects from HOK on
Wednesday, "put the cost of a new stadium at" $168.1M, while
renovating would cost $187.7M. The reason for the high cost of
renovating is being blamed on the fact that local officials want
to increase legroom between rows of seats by four inches --
requiring "tearing out and replacing a lot of concrete." The TSA
meets next week on the recommendation (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES,
5/25).
