While Patriots Owner Robert Kraft's pact with CT does
provide a $2M out if Kraft reaches another stadium deal,
neither MA nor RI execs "voiced interest yesterday in making
offers," according to Tina Cassidy of the BOSTON GLOBE. MA
Gov. Paul Cellucci: "I would not have recommended the deal
Connecticut was willing to do." Kraft: "I signed an
agreement. I'm going to live by it." Kraft did confirm
that "if there are material changes to the (memorandum) we
can't live with," the deal would be off (BOSTON GLOBE,
11/20). "Demonized" MA House Speaker Thomas Finneran was
"not backing down" yesterday and "all but closed the door on
going back to the bargaining table" with the Patriots.
Finneran: "We thought all along there would be some
reciprocity of loyalty. In this case, it looks as if the
Patriots' decision is to go with the money" (BOSTON GLOBE,
11/20). In a front-page news analysis in the BOSTON GLOBE,
Scot Lehigh writes that Finneran's message to Kraft during
stadium negotiations "was not only blunt, but occasionally
tinged with antagonism: Here my's best offer, take it or
leave it. Yesterday, Kraft left it." Finneran said, "The
league should change their rules before they expect
Massachusetts taxpayers to subsidize irrational economic
decisions." But Lehigh writes, "The NFL is a franchise
owner's market, which means that, like it or not, a state
has to pay to play" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/20). A BOSTON GLOBE
editorial states that there "always was an underlying lack
of will in Massachusetts that finally led to the Patriots
going south." The city and state refused "to join the
national trend of using the public purse to pay huge sums
for football stadiums. .... In the end, Massachusetts was
just not that eager to compete" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/20).
Kraft: "Massachusetts had over 35 years to resolve these
problems" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/20).
FAIRFIELD COUNTY IS NOT PATRIOT NATION: Kraft said the
team's current season-ticket holders will be given the
option of renewing their tickets at the new facility in the
same "general location" of their seats in Foxboro (BOSTON
GLOBE, 11/20). In examining the Patriots' move from Boston,
IN Univ. Professor Mark Rosentraub said, "That's an immense
amount of luxury seating for that market to absorb. ...
Going to Hartford is really trading down." SportsCorp. CEO
Marc Ganis said of Hartford: "The 25-mile radius around
Hartford isn't that strong, but when you expand it to 75
miles it's better. If they can tap into Fairfield County
... that would be a big plus. But it's a big challenge."
The Bonham Group CEO Dean Bonham: "I hope they're doing good
market research on the fan base." Kraft: "We think we'll be
able to sell out the luxury suites before the stadium is
finished. We've done the studies" (N.Y. TIMES, 11/20).
DOES NFL HAVE IMAGE PROBLEM? In Boston, Will McDonough
reports that his "beef" with Kraft is that he is not "man
enough to speak the truth on the way out the door: 'I am
doing this for money.'" One NFL owner: "He bought the team
for $160 [million in '94]. When he opens in Hartford, it's
worth $500 million." McDonough adds Kraft "creates the
illusion that by having more money, you have a better team."
He notes the Vikings "have taken in less money than any
other team in the league. Look at their record." For the
league, McDonough writes, "imagine how embarrassed the other
owners will be when the time arrives to vote on the move --
taking a team out of Boston, where every seat has been sold
for five years, the team generated some of the highest
revenues in the league from its stadium and it is still
allowed to leave for one reason, and one reason only. To
make more money" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/20). On ESPN.com, Tom
Farrey wonders, "Does the NFL want to make Kraft's problem
its problem? To give up on Boston is to walk away from not
only a great sports town but one of the nation's largest
television markets." The league "knows it would be best
served by having" a team in Boston (ESPN.com, 11/20). In
N.Y., Gary Myers calls the move from the sixth-largest TV
market to the 27th another "case where the NFL is downsizing
its markets" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 11/20).
COMING CLOSER TO IMUS: Don Imus criticized Kraft this
morning, saying the deal was "great" for CT, but "It sure
hoses the fans in Boston" ("Imus In The Morning," 11/20).
