The proposed stadium for Houston's NFL expansion
franchise "will cost" $57M more than the estimated $310M
figure, an 18% increase, according to Williams & Zuniga of
the HOUSTON CHRONICLE, who write that the increase "caused
heartburn" among some Harris County-Houston Sports Authority
(HSA) members "who want to ensure they have enough money
for" a new basketball arena. One "big change" for the cost
increase is a new design for the facility's retractable
roof. Houston NFL Holdings VP Steve Patterson said that team
Owner Bob McNair and the rodeo execs "won't pay the extra
cost" of the roof, but will pay for further additions they
will make to the facility (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/1).
IS THE PRICE RIGHT? ADWEEK's J. Dee Hill reports that
Houston-based ad agency Rives Carlberg has won the "first
stage of a contract" to promote Houston's expansion team.
The agency's first task will be a PSL campaign to raise
funds for the team's new stadium. Ads will run using NFL
footage and the tagline: "NFL. PSL. SFL (seat-for-life)."
Billings "until the end of this year" are estimated at $1M
(ADWEEK, 11/29). In Houston, Dale Robertson writes on the
sale of PSLs to help finance the stadium: "PSL's will be
reasonably priced while limiting the expanse of their
intrusiveness. ... While the notion that 'everybody's doing
it' doesn't implicitly make it right, the economic necessity
should be readily apparent. ... The morality of the PSL will
always be open to debate, but it has become a necessary evil
of our gilded age" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 12/1).
