December 19, 200421 yr http://www.theindychannel.com/sports/4009051/detail.html Reports: Colts, City Agree On Stadium Deal Announcement Expected Before Sunday Night Game POSTED: 3:03 pm EST December 19, 2004 UPDATED: 3:12 pm EST December 19, 2004 INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts and the city have agreed in principle on a new stadium and a 30-year lease by the NFL team, reports Sunday said. The team planned to make an announcement on the field of their present home, the RCA Dome, before its nationally televised game Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens, said Myra Borschoff, a spokeswoman for Colts owner Jim Irsay. In a news release announcing the news conference, Mayor Bart Peterson termed the deal as a "historic economic development project that will benefit the State of Indiana and the City of Indianapolis by pumping $2.25 billion into the economy and creating more than 4,200 permanent jobs and 4,900 construction jobs over the next 10 years." Steve Campbell, a spokesman for Peterson, would not confirm the team and city had reached any agreement Sunday. According to local broadcasts, Irsay and Peterson had agreed in principle on terms including the construction of a new stadium with a retractible roof and seating 60,000 to 70,000 fans. It would be located on a site about a block away from RCA Dome, the Colts' home since the franchise left Baltimore in 1984. The Colts' current lease runs through 2013 but includes an escape clause that could take effect after 2006. The city can prevent the Colts from exercising that clause by making payments, expected to exceed $10 million, twice in three years to keep the team at the NFL's median income level. Among the factors driving the city toward building a new stadium has been the Colts' desire to earn more revenue than they do now at the RCA Dome, which has the smallest seating capacity among current NFL stadiums at 55,506. Also the city wants to expand the adjacent Indiana Convention Center and recapture business that has outgrown the center, prompting some large groups to relocate their meetings to other cities. The total cost of a new stadium and convention center expansion has been estimated at $750 million. Peterson and Irsay have both said recently they were working to strike a deal this month so it could be presented to the General Assembly, which begins its next session Jan. 4. Lawmakers may need to approve taxes or other funding mechanisms for the deal.
April 30, 200521 yr Author *UPDATE* http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20...13955-5567r.htm Indiana Assembly OKs stadium financing INDIANAPOLIS, IN, Apr. 30 (UPI) -- Indiana's legislature has approved a financing plan for a new Indianapolis Colts stadium, the Indianapolis Star reported. "We are going to expand the Convention Center, and we are going to build a new stadium for the Indianapolis Colts to play in for 30 more years," Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson said. "This is really an extraordinary project." Late Friday, the Indiana General Assembly approved the measure 46-3 and, later, the House passed a similar measure 62-3 that will finance a 63,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium -- the first piece of the roughly $900 million project that also involves expanding the city's convention center. Negotiations for the new stadium date to 2002, when the mayor began formal negotiations with Colts owner Jim Irsay. When negotiations stalled, some feared the Colts would leave for Los Angeles or another larger market, the Indianapolis Star reported.
April 30, 200521 yr Why do football teams in the north need retractable roof stadiums? Either have balls like Bears/Packers fans and endure the cold or you cant.
April 30, 200521 yr Why do football teams in the north need retractable roof stadiums? Either have balls like Bears/Packers fans and endure the cold or you cant. 758876[/snapback] $uperbowl
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