Patriots Owner Robert Kraft met with CT Gov. John
Rowland yesterday for "more than three hours over their
troubled" $380M stadium deal, according to Macero, Silberman
& Battenfeld in a front-page report in the BOSTON HERALD.
The "tense, late-night" meeting came just two days after MA
leaders presented a stadium alternative to keep the team in
Foxboro. While Rowland "reportedly was planning to demand
that Kraft express renewed commitment to the Hartford deal,"
Kraft "offered few optimistic words," saying only that the
team's "goal" was to play in Hartford by 2002. Kraft: "Our
goal has always been to play in a new stadium in downtown
Hartford in the year 2002. That was the spirit of our
discussion tonight, and as usual (it was) very frank and
candid." Rowland left Kraft and his son Jonathan "cooling
their heels for more than an hour at his office after they
arrived by plane late yesterday." Sources said that Kraft
"hammered" Rowland with a "laundry list of problems" on the
Hartford stadium site. Kraft has the option of walking away
from the CT deal on Sunday, or he could give Rowland "more
time." One source: "I wouldn't give the nod to either
[option]" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/30). In Hartford, Swift &
Garber call Kraft's "brief statement ... hardly the ringing
endorsement Rowland wanted." But one issue that "seemed
more clear after the meeting" is that the Patriots "do not
appear likely to walk away from" the CT deal by Sunday's
deadline (HARTFORD COURANT, 4/30). After the meeting,
Rowland said that he and Kraft would "spend the next five
weeks trying to persuade other" NFL owners to approve the
relocation. But the BOSTON GLOBE's Meg Vaillancourt writes
in a front-page report that the CT deal's "fate may have
been sealed earlier" yesterday when a team of Kraft's
consultants concluded that "there is a low probability that
the stadium can be ready for a 2002 opening date." A 2003
opening is feasible (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/30).
CT DIDN'T LIKE THE SOUND OF KRAFT'S SILENCE: In N.Y.,
Mike Allen writes that CT officials had "repeatedly
implored" Kraft this week to make a public statement about
his stadium plans, but team execs "had always begged off,
saying they were concerned about offending someone." Aides
to Rowland say he became "fed up" with Kraft's silence, and
yesterday he "essentially ambushed" Kraft by arranging the
meeting at the Capitol and "then summoning television
cameras to wait outside his office" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/30).
WILL CT TAKE LEGAL ACTION AGAINST NFL? CT AG Richard
Blumenthal yesterday said the state was "preparing to sue"
the NFL for as much as "hundreds of millions of dollars,"
charging the league had interfered with the state's deal
with the Patriots (N.Y. TIMES, 4/30). NFL Commissioner Paul
Tagliabue will meet with Rowland on Tuesday at Rowland's
request (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/30). A HARTFORD COURANT editorial
states that Tagliabue "has worked hard to sabotage the
move," but for Kraft "to pull the plug or allow NFL owners
to nix the deal just because Massachusetts has made a paltry
counteroffer would be irrational. Further, it would be an
invitation to myriad lawsuits." The editorial calls on
Kraft "to step forward and assert that he is a man of his
word, that he honors contracts and that he intends to make
good on his signature" (HARTFORD COURANT, 4/30).
LEAGUE ACTION: In Boston, Michael Gee writes that the
NFL's decision to intervene on MA's behalf shows "a
willingness to walk away from potential billions in future
public subsidies. Given pro football's appetite for profit,
that's a staggering tribute to how much the NFL thinks might
be at stake in its next TV contract" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/30).
