NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told jurors yesterday in
Columbus, OH, that prospective NHL expansion team owner
Lamar Hunt was not interested in pursuing a team for the
area if voters did not pass a sales-tax increase for an
arena in May of '97, according to Bruce Cadwallader of the
COLUMBUS DISPATCH. But Bettman said that local business
exec John McConnell and others were intent on going forward.
Bettman said that "he knew from that point that Hunt's
interest in a Columbus franchise was in doubt." Bettman
testified in a contract dispute between Hunt and local
investors in the Blue Jackets. After the referendum failed,
Bettman said it was McConnell and Nationwide Mutual
Insurance Co. that stepped forward on a plan for a new
arena. Under cross-examination by one of Hunt's attorneys,
Bettman said that Hunt's status with the team was "unclear"
after the May election. Bettman: "[A]s a factual matter,
based on what I know, I don't believe that there should be a
claim for breach of duty by Mr. McConnell because, to us, it
seemed like he was stepping up to do the right thing."
Cadwallader writes that local investors are "seeking a
declaration from the jury that they did nothing wrong in
obtaining the franchise." Hunt's attorneys claim that local
owners "breached their contract with him by obtaining the
franchise without him (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 5/13).
