NFL Exec VP/Business Ventures Eric Grubman confirmed that the league "does not intend" to have the cities of St. Louis or San Diego make stadium presentations at the Oct. 6-7 owners meetings in N.Y., according to a front-page piece by Jim Thomas of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. As recently as late last week, St. Louis stadium task force co-heads by Dave Peacock and Bob Blitz "were rehearsing their presentation." Grubman said that the cities "have been informed and told that the league is thinking through various options." He said, "This decision has nothing to do with the state of the various projects; it is simply a judgment about how best to proceed.” He added that there is a chance that St. Louis and San Diego "will be allowed to make a presentation to the entire membership of NFL owners sometime in the future." Grubman: "The key questions are about timing and about the substance of the conversations that can occur around any project, not the ceremony of appearing at a league meeting" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 9/16).
CHANGE OF PLANS: In San Diego, Kevin Acee notes San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and County Supervisor Ron Roberts "had planned" on addressing NFL owners at the meetings, but Grubman and others in the NFL "for more than a week seemed to be leaning toward it not happening." Roberts said, "We’ve been getting hints for some time they were thinking of doing it differently.” Acee: "This is more of a delay than a snub. The NFL could have, in essence, gone through the motions of having Faulconer and Roberts make a presentation." The league "wanted to wait until there was a real reason." In fact, there "isn’t anything the NFL needs to hear from San Diego right now, not as long as the Chargers aren’t working with the city toward a stadium solution" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 9/16).
STRONG ALLIANCE: In California, Scott Reid reports San Diego officials have enlisted Populous to "set up meetings with individual members" of the league’s Committee on L.A. Opportunities (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 9/16).
