Portland, Va., DC to Pitch to MLB Panel

[Baseball Guru]

By RONALD BLUM
AP Sports Writer

January 27, 2003, 10:04 PM EST


NEW YORK -- The mayors of Portland, Ore., and the District of Columbia, and the Virginia attorney general lead delegations this week trying to convince baseball officials the Montreal Expos should move to their areas.

Portland Mayor Vera Katz leads off Tuesday morning with District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams to appear later in the day. The Northern Virginia group and Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore speak to the committee Wednesday afternoon.

Each six-person group will meet with the panel baseball commissioner Bud Selig established in November to help determine the future of the Expos, a team that has drawn poorly at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. The franchise was purchased before the 2002 season by the other 29 teams and is operated by the commissioner's office.

Baseball owners said earlier this month that financing for a new ballpark will be an important factor in the decision. None of the three areas has financing in place.

Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for Kilgore, thinks the Virginia Legislature would approve necessary public funding. Sites in Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun counties are being considered.

"He thinks it's an important economic development program," Murtaugh said. "You want to attract businesses to Virginia. Certainly a baseball team should be looked at as a business."

Selig and his chief deputy, Bob DuPuy, did not plan to attend the meetings, which were described as "get-to-know-each-other" sessions rather than formal presentations.

Baseball owners said the struggling national economy probably would make it more difficult for ballpark financing packages to be put in place.

Oregon voters cast ballots Tuesday on whether to raise income taxes to close a projected $310 million budget gap.

Awaiting a permanent solution, the Expos will play 22 home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, this season to raise revenue.

[Obri]

Who's the favorite to win the race for the Expos?

[rockin500]

i would think virginia would be the odds on favorite. bud seems to want it there.

but i wouldnt rule out portland....

[GaryMrMets]

Here is yet another article:

MLB Starts Getting-To-Know-You Process With Cities

By RONALD BLUM
.c The Associated Press

NEW YORK (Jan. 28) -- Baseball had a loud message in its first meetings with suitors who want to lure the Expos from Montreal: Show us the money.

Financing for a new ballpark is the top priority for the committee, which wants to know how fast the areas -- Portland, Ore., Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia -- could put in place plans to host the Expos in 2004.

"The committee is clearly focused on funding,'' said Bobby Goldwater, executive director of the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission.

Portland Mayor Vera Katz and District of Columbia Mayor Anthony A. Williams led their delegations Tuesday. Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore heads the Northern Virginia group, which meets with the committee Wednesday.

Katz said she believes baseball wants to make a decision by the end of the summer and said the groups will be invited back for more formal presentations in six to eight weeks.

"This can't be done if it involves raising income taxes, involves raising property taxes,'' said David Kahn, the former Indiana Pacers general manager who is a leading figure in the Oregon Stadium Campaign.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig and his chief deputy, Bob DuPuy, did not attend the meetings, which were described as "get-to-know-each-other'' sessions. The committee Selig established in November was represented by Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, three baseball officials and two consultants.

Baseball officials have declined comment, refusing to acknowledge the meetings were taking place.

The Expos, who report to spring training in 16 days for what could be their final season in Montreal, have drawn poorly in recent years at Olympic Stadium. The franchise was purchased before the 2002 season by the other 29 teams and is operated by the commissioner's office. Baseball moved 22 of the Expos' 81 home games this year to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to increase revenue.

At Tuesday's meetings, baseball wanted to hear how quickly both areas could put financing in place for a new ballpark and the timeline for getting Portland's PGE Park and Washington's RFK Stadium ready for major league play.

PGE Park, the 19,566-seat ballpark of the Triple-A Portland Beavers, or RFK Stadium, the 45,000-seat home of the expansion Senators until they moved to Texas after the 1971 season, would be the Expos' temporary home until a new stadium is built.

The Washington metropolitan area, which includes the Virginia and Maryland suburbs, is the fourth-largest in the United States at 7.6 million, according the U.S. Census Bureau. Portland's metropolitan area is 23rd at 2.3 million.

Kahn said a bill would be introduced in the Oregon Legislature to use state income tax money from player salaries to service bonds the state would issue to raise money to construct a ballpark, which would cost $300 million or more.

"If that's the case, then there's no problem,'' said Gene Orza, the No. 2 official of the players association. "But if they're singling out baseball players for a special tax to help finance a ballpark, they would not find an ally in us.''

Several potential sites for ballparks in Portland, Washington and Northern Virginia have been discussed, but none has been selected.

"They wanted to know what our situation is in Oregon, who had authority for what revenue sources, whether we need to go to the voters,'' Kahn said.

Washington, which included District Council chairman Linda Cropp in its delegation, has not yet come up with a financing plan. It thinks a team has a better chance to succeed downtown than in the suburbs.

"We believe you build a ballpark where people live, work and come to be entertained,'' Goldwater said.

Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos opposes a Washington team, which he says would cut into his team's revenue. Downtown Washington is about 40 miles from Camden Yards.

"It came up in a general discussion today,'' Goldwater said. "We know we'll certainly have to discuss that in detail.''

Baseball also wanted to know if rain would be a problem in Portland, one of the wettest U.S. cities. It's unclear if a new ballpark would have a retractable roof, such as Safeco Field, the home of the Mariners in rainy Seattle.

"It doesn't rain any more in Portland than some East Coast cities,'' Katz said.

Portland's only professional team in the four major sports is the Trail Blazers, who began play in 1970.

"Portland is by far the most underserved professional sports market in the United States,'' Kahn said.

No potential owners have been invited to speak with baseball, only government authorities. This contrasts with baseball's meetings prior to expansion in 1993 and 1998, when ownership groups put the bids together.

01/28/03 18:37 EST

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

[awefullspellare]

i still think they should move it to Omaha!!! :clap2: :clap2: we oculd build um a stadium!!!!

[GaryMrMets]

Virginia Wants Conditional Award of Expos

.c The Associated Press

NEW YORK (Jan. 29) -- Virginia officials want baseball to conditionally approve a move of the Montreal Expos to their area before completing financing plans for a new ballpark.

Baseball's committee completed its first round of meetings with the three contenders for the Expos -- Northern Virginia, Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C. -- and all three areas said financing for a new ballpark dominated discussions in their bids to lure the Expos from Montreal for the 2004 season.

"There was money, there was money, and there was money,'' Virginia Commerce and Trade Secretary Michael J. Schewel said after his delegation's meeting Wednesday.

"Obviously, I think that's the No. 1 issue on the minds of Major League Baseball,'' Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore said.

Northern Virginia -- which would build a ballpark in Arlington, Fairfax or Loudoun counties outside Washington -- thinks it is farthest along because the Virginia government enacted legislation in 1997 to partially fund a ballpark with revenue generated by sales and income taxes generated by a new team and a tax on tickets.

The Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority estimates it would have enough revenue to issue $125 million in 30-year bonds to fund construction, but a ballpark would cost more than $300 million. The ownership group that would by the team is expected to pay one-third of the ballpark cost, but no plans cover the rest.

The District of Columbia and Portland haven't put any financing plans in place.

"We are asking for a conditional award so we can get out final pieces in place,'' authority executive director Gabe Paul Jr. said.

The Virginia group would have the team play in Washington's RFK Stadium for at least three years before a new ballpark is built.

Paul thinks legislators would be more likely to approve additional financing if they knew their votes would guarantee a move of the Expos to their area. Too many baseball supporters in Virginia, according to Paul, "had their hearts broken before.''

But the Virginia Legislature is likely to recess next month and isn't scheduled to meet again in a regular session until 2004, creating doubt on the speed financing could be put in place. Baseball officials would like to make a decision this summer on the future of the Expos, who were purchased by the other 29 teams before the 2002 season.

After their meetings Tuesday, officials from the District of Columbia and Portland said they are formulating financing plans but weren't ready to disclose them.

The baseball committee hasn't publicly reacted to this week's meetings. More formal presentations will follow, probably in six to eight weeks.

"They would like to see, as anybody in their position, 100 percent public financing,'' Paul said. "It's our opinion that's not going to happen.''