A day after the Rockets said they had a deal on a $175M
downtown arena, the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority
"balked at going along" with the plan, according to Eric
Berger of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Rockets COO George
Postolos: "We stand ready to honor the bargain we struck
with the sports authority, and we hope and expect that the
sports authority will do the same." But the team's decision
to OK the arena plan and "effectively end negotiations set
off a political firestorm" yesterday. Sports Authority
Chair Billy Burge: "I am concerned about the timing of the
(Rockets') announcement, as there are still issues
outstanding between the parties to the agreement." However,
Berger notes that other Sports Authority members, including
Finance Committee Chair Ric Campo, "agreed with Postolos
that the business agreement had taken its final form." One
sticking point could be the choice of an architect for the
arena's design, which is supposed to be a "joint selection"
between the team and the Sports Authority. The issue
"remains contentious" because the Rockets prefer K.C.-based
HOK Sports, which designed Enron Field, while "some sports
authority members do not want HOK because of perceived
problems with Enron's design" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/14).
Also in Houston, Fran Blinebury writes while the current
arena deal is not the "best of all possible deals for the
city and the county," it is a "better deal than the last
one." The team's annual rent payments of $8.5M over 30
years for use of the arena "are the equivalent" of $105M in
"present-day value, an increased contribution" of $25M by
the team (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 7/14).
