Tampa Bay's charter seat deposit program draws to an end
tonight -- "all but certain short of its goal." The TAMPA
TREIBUNE's Henderson & Chastain write the question for organizers
is, "Did they get close enough?" Members of the Chamber of
Commerce Stadium Task Force say deposits will be around 32,000
when the marketing portion of the campaign ends tonight. While
the target was 50,000, task force members say sales will total
between $25-30M, which will go to Bucs Owner Malcolm Glazer if he
agrees on a stadium lease. While the sales of deposits will go
on, Glazer will use the totals through Friday as a base for what
he would offer to pay toward construction of a $168M facility.
Unless Glazer says he will pay for half of the costs of the
stadium, chances of a new stadium being built "could decrease
significantly" (TAMPA TRIBUNE, 11/17). In St. Pete, Jeff
Testerman reports Tampa Sports Authority officials are also
"considering" a surcharge of up to $2.50 per event at Tampa
Stadium which would help generate $2M annually to help defray
Glazer's share of debt for a new stadium (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES,
11/17).
