The Quebec government and the Expos consortium put
together yesterday "the beginnings of a bailout plan for the
team that, if successful, promises to be both commercially
viable and politically palatable," according to Sean Gordon
of the Montreal GAZETTE. Team execs and government
officials, including Premier Lucien Bouchard and Finance
Minister Bernard Landry, met for over two hours before
announcing the framework for a deal to keep the Expos in
Montreal. Expos Chair Jacques Menard: "I think today we
have a ray of hope that's pretty significant, that indeed
perhaps we can go forward on some basis that'll give our
fans a chance to be optimistic about the future." Under the
initial agreement, the Quebec government would provide
between C$7-8M each year in existing tourism funds. The
funding would then allow the Expos ownership group to
finance a C$100M loan to build a new ballpark. The team
would then sign a 20-year lease "providing for heavy
penalties should the team skip town." Menard said the Expos
partnership, including new investor Jeffrey Loria, "is
willing to dilute its stake" by 50% to attract further
investment. The team and government will spend the next
week to 10 days "working out the details of the arrangement"
before they present it to MLB (Montreal GAZETTE, 3/25).
Landry "insisted" that the government would want no part in
ownership or any ties to the team (GLOBE & MAIL, 3/25).
WHOLE NEW GAME: In Montreal, Jack Todd writes that
whether the Expos stay "depends" on the reaction of MLB
Commissioner Bud Selig to the plan: "But it's hard to see
how or why baseball officials would say no at this point.
... There is no reason the Expos should not be able to
complete the buy-out of [President & General Partner Claude]
Brochu and build Labatt Park" (Montreal GAZETTE, 3/25).
