A dozen NFL owners met in Washington, DC, yesterday to
discuss the league's expansion option and came away "without
coming close to reaching a consensus on one city over the
other," according to Leonard Shapiro of the WASHINGTON POST.
The league's Expansion Committee met for three hours with
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his staff, and
afterward, Tagliabue said the consensus yesterday was not to
extend the September 15 deadline for L.A. to present a bid.
Tagliabue: "The committee was well aware of the Sept. 15
timetable and did not make any changes to it. There were no
recommendations, no consensus and a lot of different points
of view." Patriots Owner Robert Kraft: "The one thing that
was clear today was that there is no clear consensus. There
are very divergent opinions." Owners will meet with L.A.
and Houston officials on Monday, and Tagliabue said he would
like the Expansion Committee to offer full ownership a
recommendation on either Houston or L.A. at the league's
next scheduled meeting on October 6 in Atlanta (WASHINGTON
POST, 9/10). In Houston, John Williams writes that NFL
officials "appear to be nearing a decision to award Houston
an expansion franchise." The NFL wants Houston bid leader
Bob McNair to "firm up the terms of the new team's lease on
a stadium" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 9/10).
IS MCNAIR THE $600M MAN? In L.A., T.J. Simers reports
that the NFL will "be looking for at least" a $600M
franchise fee from McNair. McNair "will balk initially and
maybe even low-ball the league if he thinks L.A. no longer
provides any threat." The league will also ask Marvin Davis
to make "his own franchise-fee proposal in the next few
weeks." But NFL execs remain "skeptical about Davis'
interest because of his penchant for expressing interest in
a sports project and then disappearing" (L.A. TIMES, 9/10).
