Spurs Chair Peter Holt gave Bexar County commissioners "a take-it-or-leave it offer Monday, insisting they approve the remaining contracts" for a $175M arena by Friday or the team will begin looking at other options, according to Tom Bower of the SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS. County Judge Cyndi Taylor Krier and other Commissioners Court members responded by saying "they feel no pressure to act on the contracts by Friday." They also said they "look forward to meeting face to face today with Holt for the first time since May 25 to try to iron out their differences." Holt warned that the contracts "must be signed by Friday for the team to complete the arena for the start of the 2002-2003 NBA season." The "main sticking point is a proposed 28-page nonrelocation agreement with the team." Under that provision, "should the team play more than two home games outside the arena, it must pay the county damages ranging from $250 million in the first year of the 25-year lease down to $106 million in the 25th year. What hasn't been agreed to is whether those damages would apply to future lien holders." The team feels such a measure "will not be acceptable to prospective lenders that might be used by any new owners." Holt called the proposed deal the "most onerous nonrelocation agreement in all of professional sports" (S.A. EXPRESS-NEWS, 6/13).
