One day after the $1.8B Rio Salado Crossing project
failed by a 3-2 ratio, NFL Cardinals Owner Bill Bidwill
"reaffirmed his desire" to get a new facility in the Valley,
according to Schoenfeld & Polk of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC.
Bidwill, on whether AZ is where he wants to be: "It always
has been." Bidwill has "no plans to sell the team," but
Schoenfeld & Polk report that the team "doesn't seem
interested" in remaining at Sun Devil Stadium. Cardinals VP
Michael Bidwill: "The Cardinals still need a facility that
is comfortable for the fans and that allows us the ability
to remain competitive." The Cardinals "might get
assistance" from the NFL's new G-3 Resolution, that would
allow the league to contribute as much as 50% of private
money for a new stadium project (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 5/20). AZ
House Speaker Jeff Groscost said that Rio Salado Crossing
"should be resurrected" as a regional project, while Senate
President Brenda Burns has "offered to help" the Cardinals
"explore privately funded alternatives" (AZ REPUBLIC, 5/20).
Meanwhile, the city of Phoenix "hasn't thought about getting
into the stadium game" for the team (AZ REPUBLIC, 5/20).
NEXT STOP, HOUSTON? FSN's Chris Myers reported that
after the defeat of the Rio Salado complex, Houston's Bob
McNair "is now talking with [Bill] Bidwill" ("FSN
Primetime," 5/19). McNair told Houston TV: "If there's some
way we could participate with them, either buying it or
being partners with them and moving it to Houston, yes, we
would have a definite interest in that. But it's important
to us that we have Houstonians owning the Houston team" (AP,
5/19). In Houston, John Williams writes that McNair is
"trying to persuade local officials to build a football
stadium without a guaranteed franchise." McNair said that
"he is willing to front a substantial share toward a new
stadium." McNair: "We are going to get a team, one way or
another" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5/20). Also in Houston, Mickey
Herskowitz writes Houston could land a team if McNair offers
Bidwill "more money than he ever imagined," or that "just
the comparison of how Houston has gone about its business
... might cause the NFL to rethink its current handicapping"
in the expansion process (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 5/20).
ANOTHER OPTION? ESPN's Jack Edwards, reporting on the
voters rejecting the Rio Salado project: "So what do you
think of the name the Hartford Cardinals?" (ESPN, 5/19).
