Broncos Owner Pat Bowlen on Wednesday predicted that
"he can negotiate" a deal with the city of Denver "to break"
his team's lease at Mile High Stadium, which expires in
2018, in time for a special stadium election in May,
according to Alan Snel of the DENVER POST. Bowlen said that
the fact that Denver spent two years "dealing with" Ascent
Entertainment over the severing of their lease at McNichols
Arena "will help the city and the Broncos hammer out" a
deal. However, Snel points out that there are "several"
legislative "hurdles to attain" before a stadium election
could be held in May. But Bowlen remains "optimistic."
Bowlen: "We're not reinventing the wheel here. ... We just
have to shut the doors and keep the negotiations out of the
newspapers" (DENVER POST, 10/23). In Denver, Ann Imse
reports that Stadium Board Chair Ray Baker yesterday said
that the new stadium is "likely" to cost $300M, a figure
which is 25% "more than" the original $240M projection. The
taxpayers' share of the stadium cost "is capped at" $180M by
state law, so the entire increase "would be borne" by the
team. Despite Baker's estimate, Bowlen feels the facility
will cost between $260-$280M (ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS, 10/23).
