PATRIOTS UPDATE: In Boston, Tina Cassidy writes that
$70M in infrastructure assistance at a new Patriots stadium
"sailed through" a MA State House hearing yesterday and "is
expected to pass" the Legislature today. MA House Speaker
Thomas Finneran: "I think it is now, or will soon become, a
model for the rest of the country" (BOSTON GLOBE, 5/18). MA
attorney Paul Kirk told MA lawmakers that the new stadium
will have 80 luxury suites, 20 of which are reserved for the
team and team sponsors. Kirk said that 20 suites have
already been sold to local companies, with 12 businesses
"close" to buying one (Joe Bartolotta, BOSTON HERALD, 5/18).
NOTES: A PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE editorial called U.S.
Senator Arlen Specter's (R-PA) bill on shared stadium
funding "a step in the right direction, a public-spirited
way for the big leagues to earn their special status"
(PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 5/17)....Hamilton County and the
Reds "are close to signing" a lease for a new $297M
riverfront ballpark that will keep the team in the city for
at least 30 years (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 5/18).
ON TRACK: In Winston-Salem, Mike Mulhern reports that
SMI President Bruton Smith "is looking at the possibility"
of building a track near St. Louis, and ISC Chair & CEO Bill
France Jr. "is pondering the feasibility" of a track near
Houston (W-S JOURNAL, 5/18)....Turner Corp. won a $130M
contract to manage construction of the ISC racetrack planned
for Kansas City, KS, which will seat 75,000 and "should" be
done before the spring of 2001 (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 5/14)....A
KY-based company wants to move Winston Cup racing out of NH,
but NH Int'l Speedway co-Owner Bob Bahre said, "We're not
going to do anything with them. We don't want to do that.
We're very happy where we are" (AP, 5/16).
