A New Home for the Bears - Sort Of

THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE facing a number of NFL teams is, as always, the quest for a new or renovated stadium. The Chicago Bears, who play in the league's oldest facility (76-year-old Soldier Field), have been trying for years to find a new home, either within the Chicago city limits or in the suburbs. And at long last, the team and the city--who have long been at odds over funding and site issues--may finally be on the same page.

The plan that all sides seem to agree on involves a complete gutting of Soldier Field's interior, leaving only the outside walls and its landmark colonnades. The $350 million project made mayor Richard Daley and the city happy, as the entire cost would likely be shouldered by the Bears and as much as 8150 million in loans that the NFL now makes available for stadium construction.

However, another $150 million would have to be spent in order to convert existing parking lots into parks and playgrounds, add a four-lane road to ease congestion, and build underground parking. The preliminary plan also has the approval of the three other tenants of the lake shore's Museum Campus: the Field Museum, the Adler Planetarium, and the Shedd Aquarium.

Although the franchise is willing to go ahead with the project, Bears players are less enthusiastic, as the 18-month construction schedule would force the team to find a temporary home for more than one full season. The most likely candidates are Notre Dame Stadium and the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium (which are two and three hours from Chicago, respectively), as well as undersized Dyche Stadium, located on Northwestern's campus in nearby Evanston, Ill.

The Bears aren't the only NFC Central team that has been fighting local politicians over its stadium plans. The Minnesota Vikings, who play in the 18-year-old Metrodome, are against renovating the stadium and have lobbied for a new, taxpayer-subsidized home. The team said that a new open-air stadium would cost $350 million, compared to 8425 million for a dome.

The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which owns the Metrodome, has proposed two options for renovating the dome, one that costs $159 million and another for $226 million. However, Vikings executives have said that neither of the plans could provide what the team really needs, which is a stadium that would generate at least $111 million of revenues per year, the league average.

In Arizona, meanwhile, Phoenix mayor Skip Rimsza has said he's simply not interested in building a new stadium for the Cardinals, who currently share Sun Devil Stadium with Arizona State University in Tempe. Rimsza instead has decided to put his support behind a $500 million convention center upgrade, and the most likely site for a new stadium, now that Phoenix is out of the picture, is on the Tempe-Mesa border.

The Broncos are moving into a new stadium next fall, but a choice for its name is still up in the thin Denver air. The Metropolitan Football Stadium Board, which will oversee the facility, recently voted to sell naming rights to Mile High Stadium's successor. Although the board will reserve the right to keep the "Mile High" moniker--as in the "Company X" Mile High Stadium--it expects to receive as much as nearly $90 million in a naming-rights deal. "Pursuing the naming rights is the reasonable and responsible thing to do," says MFSB executive director Tim Romani.

However, before the Broncos move out of Mile High, they may have a fight on their hands. Three season-ticket holders have filed a class-action lawsuit against the team, claiming it charged excessive ticket prices over a 15-year period. The ticket holders say the Broncos violated their lease with the city and county of Denver by setting prices that were higher than those at comparable stadiums without the permission of Denver's mayor.

With Web sites becoming more popular destinations for football fans, the supply is rapidly increasing to keep up with demand. Inevitably, legal problems are arising with this relatively new form of communication, since the NFL and the players' association own the rights to players' likenesses. A U.S. district judge recently ruled in favor of the NFLPA and Players Inc., which pays royalties to the players' association for the exclusive use of licensing rights, against popular Web site Gridiron.com.

Although Gridiron.com contracted with NFL players for the use of their images, the court found that the contracts violated Players Inc.'s contract with the NFLPA. Gridiron.com, therefore, has been barred from entering into deals with players who are under contract with the players association and will have a difficult time making its site more viewer-friendly and attractive in the future.

With its upcoming competition from the renegade XFL, the Arena Football League is looking to hold on to its current fans, as well as spread its base to new-markets. Now that its growth within the U.S. has exceeded all expectations over the past 10 years, the AFL is taking a cue from the NFL and is looking to build an international presence.

The league is going overseas this winter, with a six-team, two-month exhibition season in France, England, Italy, Spain, and Germany. The teams will play 12 games during December and January, which is not a first: the AFL also played a series of exhibitions throughout Europe between 1989 and 1997. The league is also working on a deal with the CFL that would bring Arenaball to Canada. The new Canadian-based league is expected to play a schedule from January to June.

Europe has wound up being a strong market for the NFL, as NFL Europe will likely expand its number of teams. The league debuted to crowds of approximately 10,000 in 1991, but it's now routinely playing in front of 40,000 fans per game. League owners are currently scouting the continent for two new expansion cities, including locations in Italy, France, Poland, and the Czech Republic.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group