Milwaukee's Professional Baseball Park District Board gave
the Brewers three weeks to finalize the team's $90M contribution
toward financing of a new ballpark. The board also voted 9-4 to
suspend a five-county sales tax hike by May 1 if it is not
satisfied with the team's contributions. The board heard from
Brewers President Bud Selig and VP/ Legal Counsel Wendy Selig-
Prieb twice during a lengthy session yesterday (AP/ESPNET
SportsZone, 3/26). Board Chair Robert Trunzo concluded there was
"still a shortfall" in the Brewers' package. Problems centered
around the "present-day value" of part of the team's package,
which analysts said left the Brewers' proposal about $10-15M
short of its intended $40M goal. Included in that was the naming
rights deal with Miller Brewing, which had been expected to have
a present value of $20M. However, lender bank NationsBank placed
that value at only $15M. Another problem was the board's
estimate of concession contracts at $10-15M, not the $20M cited
(Amy Rinard, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/26).
