Williams & Connolly's David Kendall, who was personal
attorney to President Clinton, has been hired by the Orioles
as co-counsel with team attorney Alan Rifkin to "press a
'parity' claim" against the state of MD, in which the team
is seeking "tens of millions of dollars in rent discounts
and improvements" to Camden Yards "on the contention that
the Ravens got a better deal" at PSINet Stadium, according
to Jon Morgan of the Baltimore SUN. Kendall will be
assisted by Williams & Connolly Senior Partner Brendan
Sullivan. Morgan writes that the team "is relying on a
clause in its lease, written years before" the NFL returned
to Baltimore, that guaranteed it "fairly comparable" terms
in the event an NFL franchise moved to the city. Documents
indicate that the Orioles' "demands" include rent credits
equal to $14M plus interest, "which the team calculates is
the value of concession equipment that the state bought at
PSINet, but not Oriole Park -- facts the state disputes;"
the right to sell naming rights to Oriole Park to a
corporate sponsor, an interest-free loan of $15M to make
stadium improvements; more skyboxes; a new scoreboard; and
other compensation from the MD Stadium Authority, which owns
Oriole Park. A panel of arbitrators was selected last week
to decide the claim (Baltimore SUN, 7/27). A WASHINGTON
POST editorial states that the Orioles ought to "abandon"
their effort to sell naming rights because the Oriole Park
at Camden Yards name "is valuable to the city and the game
in obvious ways no corporate deal could be. It also is a
sign of hope that there's some limit to professional sports'
pursuit of every stray dollar" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/27).
