Houston officials completed a $310M plan for a stadium
which could be ready "for the 2002 season, a boast they
believe puts them ahead" of L.A., and "allows businessman
Robert McNair to begin a hard sell for" an NFL expansion
team, according to John Williams of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE.
The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority will issue $260M
worth of debt to finance construction, with "hotel and motel
tax revenues to support" $195M in construction costs. The
remaining $65M will "be repaid from a variety of sources
that total" $8.1M a year. McNair "must guarantee" $4.01M in
total revenue and repay $50M in three equal payments
"between the time bonds are issued and two-thirds of the
bond proceeds are spent." Williams: "The deal ... should be
good enough for Houston to attract an expansion team or
entice an existing franchise to move from a smaller market
to the nation's fourth-largest city." The deal, approved by
the Sports Authority, is scheduled for a vote by
Commissioners Court today and by the Rodeo Executive
Committee on Thursday (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/20).
