Two members of the Orlando Area Sports Commission said
yesterday that Bucs officials were only interested in Orlando as
an alternative if Tampa cannot build a new stadium, with one
official withdrawing a statement to the contrary. Fred Leonhardt
was quoted in yesterday's ST. PETERSBURG TIMES saying that
somebody on the OASC "was contacted by the Bucs and suggested
there was an interest in moving to other cities and wanted to
know if we would be interested in exploring that." Leonhardt: "I
stand corrected. ... I realize now that it was our commission
that expressed an interest in talking to the Bucs." Meanwhile,
OASC Board Member Lee Chira said Bucs President Rich McKay told
him that his only objective was to get a new stadium in Tampa and
that "Orlando was at the top of their list as far as contingency
plans" (Bill Fay, TAMPA TRIBUNE, 8/24). Tampa officials
expressed little surprise. Hillsborough County Commissioner Ed
Turanchik: "The consequence of not meeting their needs is the
Bucs will move, whether they go to Orlando or Baltimore or
Nashville or Houston or Los Angeles or Cleveland or Cincinnati or
any of those other places that have a team and lose one or don't
have a team and want one" (Charean Williams, ORLANDO SENTINEL,
8/24).
NEW LEASE MEANS RED INK FOR TSA: A new Bucs lease Bucs
"likely would preclude" the Tampa Stadium Authority from
continuing to finance its activities, according to the ST. PETE
TIMES. The TSA has already given Bucs owner Malcolm Glazer some
concessions, and "others may be in the offering now that Glazer
has pledged to pour millions more" into a proposed stadium
project. TSA officials reported $1.1M in operating income in
'90, however, that number dropped to $170,781 in '91 after a
previous Bucs lease concession. An Audit by KPMG Peat Marwick
for the TSA notes that local government "may need to consider
reimbursement" to the authority for its efforts for a new
stadium, coordinating development of the new $17.2M Yankees
training facility, and the new Lightning Arena. The TSA could be
force to cut expenses, seek a tax subsidy or offer commercial use
of some stadium property (Jeff Testerman, ST. PETE TIMES, 8/23).
