CITY'S NEXT SQUAD WON'T COME CHEAPLY.Byline: Eric Noland Daily News Staff Writer Pick up some bushel baskets Noun 1. bushel basket - a basket large enough to hold a bushel basket, handbasket - a container that is usually woven and has handles on the way to the bank. That's the certain mandate for anyone who desires to be part of an ownership bid for an NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga team in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . To begin with, the fee for an NFL franchise continues to escalate. As a result of the staggering windfall generated by the league's new television contracts, the buy-in for Cleveland, awarded an expansion franchise last month, is expected to be in the neighborhood of $350 million - up dramatically from the $140 million that Carolina and Jacksonville paid to join just five years ago. And, reportedly, the NFL has a current debt requirement of $100 million. If L.A.'s franchise fee is $400 million - not an unreasonable forecast - that would mean a potential outlay of 75 percent in cash by the local ownership group. (Imagine buying a $200,000 house and having to put $150,000 down.) Cost of construction Then there's the stadium construction - or, in the case of the Coliseum Coliseum: see Colosseum. , reconstruction. Wherever it is done, the financing won't be accomplished readily. California has created a unique environment in that regard. ``In the best of all worlds, they would prefer a beautiful, brand-new, from-the-ground-up, state-of-the-art facility,'' John Semcken, executive vice president of New Coliseum Partners, said of the NFL decision-makers. ``They don't like renovated facilities. San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. ? Nightmare. Oakland? Nightmare. Those are horrible alternatives to a brand-new stadium. But, unfortunately, that's what they get in California.'' The primary obstacle in this state is Proposition 218, a state constitutional amendment passed in 1996 requiring two-thirds' voter approval for any special-purpose tax. Thus, the implementation of a rental-car tax or hotel-bed tax or sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. to fund stadium construction - common strategies for other recently built NFL facilities - would be subject to likely death in the ballot box here. ?sRecouping costs For an ownership group that foots much of the construction bill, at least there is a strong prospect for recouping the costs. ``Whoever builds the stadium . . . they're going to get reimbursed for construction costs out of stadium revenues, one way or another,'' said John McKay There are several different notable people named John McKay:
Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
Hollywood Park's proposal to the NFL is essentially a land deal and does not include stadium financing. McKay said public money sources would center on $5 million in redevelopment money from Inglewood, plus an additional $45 million in user taxes, ticket taxes and parking taxes. The financing plan for the Coliseum project, expected to exceed $300 million in cost, is much farther along. Semcken outlined plans in which the ownership group, headed by Kings co-owner Edward Roski Jr., would put up at least $40 million in cash. Other prospective sources: private financing ($66 million), a federal tax credit for historic structure ($30 million), redevelopment dollars ($20 million), and a ticket surcharge An overcharge or additional cost. A surcharge is an added liability imposed on something that is already due, such as a tax on tax. It also refers to the penalty a court can impose on a fiduciary for breaching a duty. ($20 million). Coliseum proponents will have to pay nothing for land or infrastructure. Coliseum plan The Coliseum proposal also has some areas that will have to be addressed to the NFL's satisfaction in the coming months. It calls for $61 million under a heading of ``additional public assistance,'' a hoped-for amalgam of tax revenues based on the belief that the stadium will have a positive impact on Exposition Park Exposition Park is the name of more than one place:
n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. businesses. There is also an expectation of $50 million from the sale of personal seat licenses - a conservative figure if the project were in Charlotte, but will Los Angeles respond as hungrily? Generating revenues And perhaps the biggest hurdle: persuading NFL owners that a new stadium inside the historic walls of the Coliseum will generate revenues as readily as a start-from-scratch stadium somewhere else. ``We're convinced it's a new facility,'' said an NFL insider, ``but are people convinced? Will they respond to it as if it is? ``To the guy on the street, it's still the Coliseum. They did all that stuff after the earthquake. People came back. It's the same place.'' |
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