A conference call yesterday with supporters of a $175M
arena in Houston "failed to sway" Harris County Judge Robert
Eckels, who "still insists negotiators must change the arena
agreement before it wins his endorsement," according to Eric
Berger of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. While Harris County-
Houston Sports Authority members said that they were
"willing to accommodate Eckels' concerns, such modifications
would come at the expense" of the Rockets. Rockets COO
George Postolos said that he was "still gathering
information about the call, in which the team was not
invited to participate, and that the matter needed 'full
consideration' before he would discuss whether the team
would reopen negotiations" on the deal. But Berger cites
Eckels as saying that "without changes ... he could not
support the agreement because he considered it bad policy
for the county." Eckels: "There are simply some holes in
this deal that need to be filled. I'm optimistic that these
issues can be addressed." Berger writes that of the four
segments of the deal Eckels cited, the agreement's
noncompete clause "requires the biggest, and most
controversial, changes for team officials." Berger also
writes that after the conference call, the participants
"praised one another for a 'cordial conversation.'" Eckels
spoke with Sports Authority Chair Billy Burge, Sports
Authority members Ric Campo and Grover Jackson, Enron Corp.
Chair & CEO Ken Lay and former Reliant Energy Chair Don
Jordan (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/15).
