The Heat reached a nonbinding agreement with Broward County
on Friday, paving the way for the team to join the Panthers as
tenants in the county's proposed $212M arena scheduled to be
completed by '98, according to the MIAMI HERALD. The agreement,
which calls for a lease to be signed by May 1, allows the Heat to
continue talks with Dade County officials about remaining in
Miami. Heat Owner Micky Arison: "We are doing it in absolutely
good faith, assuming that the net result of it will be that we
are in Broward. We have not had a proposal from Dade County on a
new arena." The Heat will put $2M a year into the deal. The NHL
team currently qualifies for a $2M-a-year state sales tax rebate
to build a facility, a designation the Heat have failed to
achieve. By paying the annual $2M fee, the Heat would be "on
equal terms and able to split profits" with the Panthers.
Broward commissioners are scheduled to vote on Tuesday (Connie
Prater, MIAMI HERALD, 3/9). Meanwhile, Tony Ridder, CEO of
Knight-Ridder and leader of Dade's efforts to keep the NBA club,
says the letter of intent does not change what they are doing and
that they plan to continue "full-steam ahead" (MIAMI HERALD,
3/9).
