In Atlanta, the Fulton County Commission on Wednesday
postponed a vote on a new arena deal until June 4,
"complicating Atlanta's bid to win" an NHL expansion team,
according to Henry Unger of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION.
Harvey Schiller, who heads Turner Sports' NHL bid: "The
commission has certainly moved in the direction to
complicate our NHL franchise. The NHL announcement [of
expansion cities] is supposed to be June 4 and one of the
requirements is that the arena deal be in place." Unger
writes that "the delay also affects demolition of the Omni,"
which was scheduled to start June 2. The new arena is to be
built on the Omni site (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 5/22).
COLUMBUS: In Columbus, John Futty reported that local
businessmen Ron Pizzuti and John McConnell "are said to be
leading an effort to find private financing" for a downtown
arena after a sales tax increase was rejected in a county
referendum. But Crew Owner Lamar Hunt, who heads the city's
NHL expansion group, "continued to express little hope" for
a privately financed arena (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 5/21).
