Michael Ovitz and Ron Burkle chose Friday not to pursue
a potential stadium site at Hollywood Park for $55M,
according to T.J. Simers of the L.A. TIMES. The land will
now be sold to real estate developers for a housing project.
Ovitz: "We're not going to execute the option. We expect
some day to bring a team to L.A., but we couldn't find a way
to make this work as a good business decision without
assurances of getting a team from the league." The NFL had
asked Hollywood Park COO R.D. Hubbard what he planned for
the land, as the league "had a passing thought to assume the
$250,000 option on the property if still available, or
purchase it at some later date." One NFL official: "We've
made our decision and it's time to get on. I think it's
probably good for everyone involved to just let things
settle down for a while" (L.A. TIMES, 10/9). In Buffalo on
Sunday, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was asked about
further expansion: "We're in all the markets we want to be."
He said that if the league goes beyond 32 teams, it would
look to grow internationally (TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 10/11).
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOUR TOROS: Houston expansion
team Owner Bob McNair, on potential team names: "We've had a
number of names suggested. One of them would be the Texans,
which is certainly a fitting name. Stallions is a great
name. Toros is a great name. Some have even suggested
Chilukki, because that's the name of our two-year old filly,
that's the top filly in the country, and she won a big race
[Saturday's Oak Leaf Stakes]" ("The NFL Today," CBS, 10/10).
