The Pirates and Steelers "scored" yesterday as the
Pittsburgh Sports & Exhibition Authority (SEA) approved 29
1/2-year leases by a 4-1 vote for their new facilities that
give the teams "generous chunks of stadium revenue and
sweeping control" of development between the sites,
according to Dave Copeland of the Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW.
Pittsburgh City Council member Dan Cohen cast the dissenting
ballot. Steelers VP & General Counsel Arthur Rooney II, on
the vote: "Anybody who could not vote for this lease doesn't
care about having better professional sports teams in the
city of Pittsburgh. The whole reason for doing the new
stadiums was to keep the teams competitive." The Steelers
will contribute $113.1M toward the $289M total cost for
their new stadium, and the SEA agreed to pay two-thirds of
the cost of a possible 10,000-seat expansion to the 65,000
seat facility. The Pirates' $44M contribution for their new
$262M ballpark includes $31.5M from the sale of naming
rights to PNC Bank. The SEA, which will own the facilities,
"stands to receive" $100,000 per year in base rent from the
PNC Park -- or $2,950,000 "over the life" of the lease
(TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 5/11). Also in Pittsburgh, Robert Dvorchak
notes that a provision in the leases "will spur the building
of offices, restaurants and entertainment venues in the 25
acres between" the two facilities (POST-GAZETTE, 5/11).
