NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and NFLPA Exec Dir Gene
Upshaw "were allies yesterday as they exchanged sometimes
heated rhetoric" with U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)
during a Judiciary committee hearing concerning the public
financing of sports stadiums, according to Mike Bruton of
the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Specter's stadium bill would
require the NFL and MLB to establish a fund from TV revenue
to pay for 50% of the costs of building new stadiums and
renovating existing ones. Local governments would also be
responsible for 25% of the cost and teams would pay the
remaining 25%. Tagliabue and NFL Stadium Committee
Chair/Panthers Owner Jerry Richardson "repeatedly hammered
on the theme" that the bill would put small-market teams at
a disadvantage "because such teams count more heavily on TV
revenue." The two "argued that since each city's situation
is different from others, local politicians, businesses and
the fans should be allowed to come to their own independent
agreements." Upshaw said that the bill would "disrupt the
players' current guarantee" of earning 63% of league
revenue. Others testifying were Horrow Sports Ventures
President Rick Horrow and UCLA Economics Professor Benjamin
Klein (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 6/23). Tagliabue said the
bill would "establish a rigid and misguided federal approach
to a particularly local issue" to the detriment of
communities and teams (WASHINGTON POST, 6/23). Richardson
noted recent stadium initiatives which failed at the ballot
box and said, "It is both wrong and unfair to suggest that
voters throughout America will leave their good sense at the
door and give NFL teams a blank check when it comes to
stadiums." The Judiciary Committee has not scheduled a vote
on the bill (BLOOMBERG NEWS, 6/23). In Milwaukee, Frank
Aukofer writes that the NFL "fielded a seamless defense"
against the legislation (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 6/23).
