In Cincinnati, Chris Wetterich noted Hamilton County will pay the Bengals what the franchise is "owed for gameday expenses under the team’s lease of Paul Brown Stadium, but it will do so gradually under an agreement county commissioners approved" yesterday. The $2.67M the county owes this year will be "paid in $890,000 installments over three years" from '19-21. The team and the commissioners said that the agreement "allows more time for the county and the Bengals to discuss the terms of the lease" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/9).
GETTING EXCITED: Crew ownership group Precourt Sports Ventures President Dave Greeley said that his group could "release a preliminary site plan this week" for the 24-acre potential stadium location in Austin, with a "rendering to follow later this month." Austin-based attorney Richard Suttle, who works for PSV, said, “The city will retain ownership of the land and the stadium. That will be the proposal. We’re not asking for public funds to build the stadium" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 5/10).
PEERING INTO THE FUTURE: In Portland, Gordon Friedman in a front-page piece writes architectural renderings of a proposed MLB ballpark "show backers of the pro-ball effort envision their team playing in a sleek, open stadium near the Willamette River." The renderings "depict a circular stadium with open views to the southeast and roughly two-thirds surrounded by translucent walls." A circular, "crowd-covering awning appears supported by cables descending from a towering lighted white spire outside the stadium’s northwest end." Drawings also show "substantial greenways and trees and ... apparently no roof or dome" (Portland OREGONIAN, 5/10).
