While D.C. scurries to save the deal, everybody else waits

Dan Kulin

Friday, Dec. 17, 2004 | 11:21 a.m.

The future of the next Major League Baseball franchise remains uncertain today after the league's President Bob DuPuy told Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman that he couldn't discuss the possibility of moving the team to Las Vegas until Dec. 31.

That's the deadline for Washington, D.C., to have a financing plan in place for the planned move of the Montreal Expos to the nation's capital.

In the meantime, Goodman continues fielding calls from consultants offering to help lure a major-league team to Las Vegas, and Goodman and other city officials will continue working to bring a major league team to Las Vegas.

The mayor said Thursday that baseball's precarious future in Washington means there is "just another opportunity we have to prepare for."

To help the city develop a funding plan, pick a site, and deal with other issues related to bringing major league baseball to Las Vegas, the city will publicly call for consultants to compete to be Las Vegas's baseball consultant.

Councilman Larry Brown said the city's request for proposals should be made public within the next few weeks, and he expects the same consultants who have been calling Goodman in recent days to submit their names for consideration.

Brown said that while there has been talk about downtown sports arenas in the past, this time is different because Major League Baseball appears interested in Las Vegas.

About 10 years ago, a Texas billionaire bought the 61 acres -- the former site of the Union Pacific rail yards -- and announced grandiose plans for a large stadium, Brown said.

Then three years ago, after the city bought the 61 acres, a Texas development group prepared plans for the land that included a new minor league baseball stadium. But that plan was never acted on, he said.

"Everyone has the right to be skeptical," Brown said. "But what's different this time is that before people always talked about how it would be nice to have professional sports here. This time professional sports says they want to be in Las Vegas."

The District of Columbia Council on Tuesday approved a plan requiring that private funds pay for at least 50 percent of a new stadium there, upsetting baseball's plan that called for a new stadium to be paid for entirely with government funds. Some District of Columbia officials have said the change could doom the planned relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington.

Today speaking on two radio shows in Washington, Mayor Anthony Williams said he had not given up hope of striking a deal Major League Baseball that will accept to bring baseball to the nation's capital.

Speaking on WTOP radio, Williams said the deal was "close to dying" but not yet dead.

Later on WAMU radio a weary-sounding Williams said, "I'm not enthusiastic but I'm cautiously optimistic."

Williams said he wants to meet face-to-face with City Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp, which he has not done since the council vote this week that put the deal in jeopardy. He also said he would like to meet with baseball officials to discuss options for making the deal happen.

Cropp later on WAMU said she called Williams today and wants to meet with him and baseball officials. She said she would be willing to propose a change to her legislation at a council meeting next week if it still assures a deal that is "at a lower cost and reduced risk" to the city.

Mark Touhey, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Council who has been in contact with Williams, Cropp and baseball officials, on WAMU said, "I believe this is going to work out. I believe we will get through this."

The mayor plans intense negotiations with council members to convince them to "soften" language in their bill to keep the deal alive -- and baseball interested, William's spokesman Chris Bender said. The D.C. council meets again next week.

Baseball has agreed not to entertain offers from other cities until after Dec. 31. It's not clear to what degree Major League Baseball has given up on Washington, Bender said. He said he didn't know how seriously baseball might look at Las Vegas.

"We had a deal that was broken," Bender said. In general, when business deals fall apart, the parties go looking for alternatives, Bender said.

"Baseball may well decide to do that," he said.

Las Vegas was among the finalists in the effort to win the Expos, but ultimately lost to Washington. That earlier effort was led by a private group proposing to build a stadium just off the Strip, which is outside Las Vegas city limits.

Now Goodman is leading the effort to bring a team to downtown Las Vegas.

Goodman said he received phone calls from two consultants Wednesday and another consultant on Thursday, all of whom want to help bring major league baseball to Las Vegas. He would not say who those consultants were.

Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens was to speak Thursday afternoon with experts on stadium financing. Brown said Houchens is expected to familiarize himself with the many different ways a stadium can be financed.

And Goodman said he will have additional meetings next week to discuss bringing a team to Las Vegas, but he would not say with whom.

"At this point in time it's in such a state of infancy. But there are lots of ways to invest; we've got land at Cashman and the 61 acres. There are so many variables here," the mayor said.

A potential development plan for the city-owned 61 acres downtown includes setting aside land for a baseball stadium, Goodman has said.

Brown said there's no question some government funding will be needed to build a stadium, which he said would probably cost at least $400 million. Although exactly where that money would come from is far from being known, Brown said he sees a couple of possibilities.

He said the city could offer to donate the land that a stadium would be built on, or the private company that builds the stadium could receive money through tax increment financing, which is used with several other redevelopment projects.

The theory behind tax increment financing is that a project increases the amount of taxes paid to the city by increasing the value of the property the project was built on and the properties around it. A tax rebate is given for those redevelopment projects is based on how much the tax payments increase.

For example, the Las Vegas Premium Outlets mall was given a tax increment financing deal that estimated the shopping center would increase tax payments from the redevelopment area by $7 million. Based on that estimate, the mall owners are set to receive no more than $2.86 million in tax rebates from the city in a 13-year period. In June, the mall received a check for $111,105, the first payment from that deal, City Finance Director Mark Vincent said.

Meanwhile Nevada lawmakers in Congress could throw their political muscle behind a lobbying effort to lure baseball to Las Vegas if that would help land a team, their aides said.

Incoming Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid spoke to baseball Commissioner Bud Selig earlier in the year urging him to consider Las Vegas, Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said.

Reid, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Reps. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and Jon Porter, R-Nev., wrote a letter in May to Selig endorsing Las Vegas as a baseball venue. The letter urged Major League Baseball to carefully review the financing and stadium proposal the city submitted in December 2003. It touted Las Vegas as one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation.

"We appreciate that Major League Baseball and the player's association have indicated their desire to identify a location that is economically stable, will be a competitive environment for the team and has an enthusiastic fan base," the letter said. "Should Las Vegas become the official home of the Expos, we are confident that our community will provide these qualities and more."

Reid is a long-time baseball fan. Among his prized possessions is a ball signed by Hall of Fame players Sandy Koufax, Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Frank Robinson.

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