Browns Owner Al Lerner and Cleveland Mayor Michael
White are "prepared to share" cost overruns should the $280M
stadium go as high as $293M, according to Grant & Vickers of
the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. White said Lerner will add
another $9M, on top of his $530M cost of the team, to wipe
out the current overrun of $6M, leaving $3M in reserve.
Once that is used, the city and Lerner or the NFL "would
split the cost" of the next $10M. White had no specifics
on how any costs over that would be handled. But NFL
VP/Communications Greg Aiello said that Lerner's purchase
agreement "dedicated" $15M to the overrun, which was "in
addition" to the $15M the NFL advanced for the overrun in
May. Grant & Vickers said that city execs "did not respond
to inquiries about the discrepancy" (PLAIN DEALER, 9/11).
TEAMS GET THEIR FAIR SHARE: The league's owners will
split $476M of Lerner's $530M fee. The Ravens and Rams
"agreed to forfeit their expansion cut" when they relocated,
therefore each of the remaining 28 owners will receive $17M
(Paul Domowitch, PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 9/11).
