A naming-rights deal for The Coliseum in Nashville could be weeks away, said Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams. The stadium has been without a sponsor since Adelphia Cable entered bankruptcy proceedings 3 1/2 years ago, and until now the team has been unable to find a replacement. “In a small market like we are, it is more difficult to find one,” Adams said.
 |
The Coliseum has been without a corporate title
since Adelphia’s name came down in 2002. |
“We have some ones we are looking at real seriously,” Adams said. “The rights have gone up so high, and you can’t expect that in a market the size of ours.” However, the team, which is handling the search internally, has whittled down the choices to a handful, he said. Asked in jest if he was looking at getting the $20 million annually that the New York Jets and Giants are seeking in their joint stadium effort, Adams replied that he would be happy with $20 million over 10 years.
NBC WANTS ITS SAY: NBC, as part of its new broadcast contract with the NFL, is seeking to meet with the league two weeks before games that could potentially be rescheduled. The latter part of the league’s schedule this year is the first time the league will implement flexible scheduling. One appealing Sunday afternoon game will be moved to NBC’s prime-time slot that evening. The ultimate decision resides with the NFL, said Dick Ebersol, NBC’s sports chief, but the network would like to have input. Asked whether NBC is seeking to buy an equity position in the NFL Network, Ebersol declined to comment.
NFL MARDI GRAS: The league is looking at staging an entertainment event in New Orleans either on the first day of the season, Sept. 7, or when the Saints’ first home game in the city occurs later that month. The league has begun staging events over kickoff weekend in the home city of the Super Bowl winner and the city that will host the next title game (this year that would be Pittsburgh and Miami, respectively). Those festivities are also expected, but the extra event is viewed as a way to help New Orleans recover from Hurricane Katrina. The Saints played last season in Baton Rouge, La., and San Antonio, but expect to play the full 2006 calendar in their hometown.
 |
Competition is fierce for a spot on the panel that will
look for Paul Tagliabue’s successor. |
NO COMMITTEE YET: Perhaps the biggest news to come out of this meeting was the league not naming a committee to find a new commissioner, now that
Paul Tagliabue has announced he will retire in the summer. The league had said in the week leading up to the meeting that it would, but that changed. Team owners and executives, speaking on background, said the reason was the intense jockeying to be on the committee, which could have between six and eight members and maybe two co-chairs. In 1989, outgoing Commissioner
Pete Rozelle named an old-line owner committee, and new owners blocked their recommendation. So this time around the league wants to avoid that with a new committee expected as soon as this week. Similarly, a revenue-sharing committee that would establish conditions on teams getting money was not formed here. That, too, is expected soon.
LOOKING OVERSEAS: Owners stressed that they wanted someone as commissioner who could carry the NFL flag overseas, especially in markets such as China. Woody Johnson, the Jets’ owner, talked about finding a way for the NFL to exploit the Olympics in Beijing in 2008, even though football is not an Olympic sport. “Do we just play football games in the U.S.? Or do we try to be a part of the world community?” And Tagliabue said there was a good chance the league would play its first preseason game next year in Beijing, which would use it as the launch of its Olympics buildup. In another bit of news, he said the Pro Bowl could become an international event.
L.A. AROUND THE CORNER: The league appears serious now about picking a stadium site in Los Angeles, perhaps by the late May owners meeting. Here the commissioner added six owners to the L.A. working group, including Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen, who rarely involves himself in league business. The two sites, Anaheim and the L.A. Coliseum, are set to present their bids this month in Dallas, Chicago or New York, as the league looks to return the sport to a city that lost both its teams in 1995 to relocation. Another of those new committee members is Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, the only league owner to live in L.A. He said the NFL needs to address the issue of whether Anaheim is even L.A., a subject he said that, despite living in L.A., he personally has not decided on.
NEW WORLD THINKING: Digital media was a hot topic of conversation here. With the Internet deal up next month, and how to handle issues such as showing games on cell phones and video-on-demand services, the owners heard several presentations about needing to prepare for this new world. General Electric Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt spoke about it, and league new media executive Brian Rolapp presented on the issue. Untapped digital media revenue is expected to help fund the new supplemental revenue-sharing system that the league created as part of the CBA. A new Internet deal is not expected until the summer. But the real nitty-gritty discussions on the subject are expected later this month at the NFL marketing directors meeting in Dallas.
GREEN FLAG: Mike Pereira, the league’s director of officiating, said he would be going to NASCAR’s Texas stop this month to learn more about how the auto racing circuit uses technology for officiating. He wants to have officials use high-definition when using instant replay to review calls, which he said NASCAR already uses for that reason.
