Patriots Owner Robert Kraft and CT Gov. John Rowland
announced yesterday that they have signed a memorandum of
understanding to relocate the Patriots to Hartford in 2001,
according to Tom Puleo in a front page article in the
HARTFORD COURANT. The $350M deal would put the team in a
68,000-seat, open-air downtown riverfront stadium as part of
the city's $1B-plus Adriaen's Landing development. The
agreement also includes a 30-year commitment by the team to
stay in Hartford. As part of the agreement, the Patriots
are required to "deal exclusively" with CT concerning any
relocation plans through December 31. The team "has placed"
a $2M deposit in escrow that "would be forfeited if it
begins negotiations with any other state." The CT state
legislature must "be called to a special session to approve
the financing of the package, and finalize the agreement
that would bring" the Patriots to Hartford within three
years. Kraft will spend "about" $75M for a new hotel, an
NFL retail center and a wellness and fitness center at
Adriaen's Landing. He has "also committed to moving the
team's headquarters to Hartford, along with the Patriots'
training and practice facilities" (HARTFORD COURANT, 11/20).
THE DEAL: CT will issue bonds to build the $265M
stadium and provide $90M in infrastructure, parking and
transportation improvements around the site. The stadium
would include 6,000 premium seats and between 125 and 150
luxury boxes. The state will pay cost overruns associated
with time delays, while the team will pay overruns for those
associated with design changes. A 10% ticket tax on all
stadium events would "primarily cover the debt service" on
stadium. The facility will be shared with the Univ. of CT.
Kraft will keep all stadium revenue "except for UConn or
state-sponsored events." He would also receive naming
rights to the stadium. Part of the agreement calls for
Kraft to study the feasibility of bringing pro soccer to the
stadium, but he said he would not relocate his new team, the
MLS Clash, to Hartford. The Revolution will also remain in
Foxboro. Kraft met with NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and
"was told the league would not try to block the move.
Tagliabue also said "that no other franchise would be put in
the region" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/20). The BOSTON HERALD's
Cosmo Macero reports that Kraft will receive 90% of all
incoming revenue from Patriots-related events. In addition,
the state would guarantee the annual sale of "at least" 75
luxury suites at $100,000 each, and 4,000 club seats at
$5,000 each. Average ticket prices are projected to be $50
(BOSTON HERALD, 11/20). In Boston, Gregg Krupa calls the CT
offer "enormously generous." Woolf Associates COO Larry
Moulter: "If you look at this in Massachusetts terms, it
appears to be the ultimate giveaway. If you look at this in
terms of the NFL, it is simply what a community pays to get
an NFL franchise" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/20). Also in Boston,
Joan Vennochi writes that the odds "seem strong" that the
team will end up in Hartford, as the deal, "quite possibly,"
sounds "too good to ignore" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/20).
SOUNDBITES: An emotional Kraft was greeted with
"raucous applause" at the CT State Capitol. Earlier, "he
had cried openly in a briefing with legislative leaders."
Kraft: "If the City of Hartford and the people of this state
had not gotten together and come up with this, our family
would have had to put this team up for sale." One team
official said that the league's $17.6B TV package signed
last year "allowed Kraft to buy some time in solving" his
stadium problem: "If that hadn't happened, if we hadn't
doubled our money, the team would be in L.A. or Houston or
someplace like that. He was up against the wall." Patriots
VP Jonathan Kraft, on his father's reaction: "To hear the
applause and to know we're done talking about the stadium
situation, it was just a relief for him" (HARTFORD COURANT,
11/20). Kraft: "You really overwhelm me" (BOSTON GLOBE,
11/20). But in Boston, Michael Holley writes that the
thought of Kraft in CT "doesn't sound right" and that Kraft
looked "uncomfortable" and "awkward" yesterday. Holley
writes that in "three years," Kraft will be "much richer"
than he is now, but "privately, underneath all that cash,
he'll still be longing for Massachusetts. And in three
years, with its absence of Patriot cash, Massachusetts will
finally long for Kraft" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/20).
WILL IT PASS? In Hartford, Swift & Keating report that
there are "no early signs of a legislative revolt that could
scuttle" the deal (HARTFORD COURANT, 11/20). In Boston,
Tina Cassidy notes a "sliver of skepticism" in the CT
legislature, but support seems "strong and bipartisan"
(BOSTON GLOBE, 11/20). One "high-level" Patriots source
said the team expects passage of the bill "within two weeks"
(BOSTON HERALD, 11/20). The special session is expected to
take two days, sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
No date has been set (HARTFORD COURANT, 11/20).
THE NUTMEG STATE: A HARTFORD COURANT editorial states
that Rowland deserves the "most credit" for a deal which
will see the city's "self-confidence restored" (HARTFORD
COURANT, 11/20)....While most columnists in Hartford support
the package, Tom Condon wonders, "This intangible is worth
something, but $350 million?" (HARTFORD COURANT,
11/20)....Front page of the HARTFORD COURANT: "Touchdown!
Deal Gives Hartford Home Field Advantage" (11/20).
