LV group set to hear by Aug. 19

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 | 9:52 a.m.

Major League Baseball will supposedly render a decision on the relocation of the Montreal Expos by Aug. 19, at the end of the next quarterly owners meeting in Philadelphia.

In Houston on Monday for this week's All-Star festivities, MLB president Bob DuPuy expressed confidence in that deadline and told reporters "it's time to get this done."

Mike Shapiro, the consultant who has represented Las Vegas Sports and Entertainment (LVSE) LLC, in its stadium discussions with MLB for more than a year, reacted favorably to that news.

"Anytime you have the process defined, it's better than having it be vague," Shapiro said Tuesday. "If that, in fact, is a hard deadline, that's great. But it doesn't really make that much difference.

"We're still proceeding to do the thing we need to do, making this the best possible proposal we can. More time is great, but we're doing what we have to do (honing) our proposal."

Tuesday's All-Star Game was the third consecutive mid-summer classic deadline that MLB executives have missed in determining a new home for the spiraling Expos, whom the game's 29 other owners bought in February 2002.

"I've been hanged out to dry by coming out with proposed dates," DuPuy said. "The sooner we get it done the better. I believe it will happen this summer."

Groups from Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia and Norfolk, Va., are among the candidates that have been competing with Las Vegas to land the team.

Washington and Northern Virginia have received abundant national attention in recent weeks as the perceived leaders in the Expos sweepstakes because of financing packages that are heavy on public funds and their ability to use RFK Stadium as a temporary home.

The Washington Times reported Tuesday that the nine-person relocation committee, which includes DuPuy and is chaired by Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, is expected to forward its recommendation to MLB commissioner Bud Selig by the end of July.

"Not a day goes by," DuPuy said, "when (relocation committee members) are not talking to the various (bid) cities."

That a conclusion won't be reached for another month might throw a curve at LVSE's proposal to have a retractable-roof stadium ready to open in the first half of the 2007 season.

Shapiro and Earl Santee -- a principal architect for Kansas City, Mo.-based HOK Sport, arguably the industry's most prominent stadium designer, which has been retained by LVSE -- have told the Sun that committed design work must begin by late July for a reasonable 2007 stadium debut.

"Are there things that can be done to expedite the process on the front end or back end of the whole design and construction process?" Shapiro said. "Right now, I'm not in position to answer that. I think we would still do everything in our power to open a stadium in 2007."

Selig has said that he wants the Expos permanently relocated by 2007, and that they will play in a temporary venue -- not Montreal -- for the next two seasons. However, the Associated Press reported Tuesday that an 2007 deadline might be, as many other deadlines over the past two years, soft.

The Expos, according to the AP, would play at RFK Stadium ... "before moving to a new ballpark in 2007 or 2008."

If that timeline were extended to 2008, LVSE would have considerable more leeway in designing and building a stadium, should Shapiro and his team win their long shot bid.

The $420 million, 40,000-seat versatile stadium could be completely built, Shapiro has often said, with private financing. Shapiro has declined to reveal any of those proposed investors.

It would be built on Caesars Entertainment Inc. land behind Paris Las Vegas and Ballys, and Caesars would solely act as a landlord in the project.

"It's hard to answer what could be done to expedite a (2007) opening by opening day, by the middle of the season or by the end of the season," Shapiro said. "I really don't know."

Monterrey, Mexico, figures into the temporary-venue equation, sources have told the Sun, if MLB chooses to relocate the Expos to Las Vegas.

Randy Vataha, of Boston-based Game Plan LLC, could play a prominent role in assembling an ownership group if baseball becomes the first major sport in Southern Nevada, but he, too, has declined to name any of those financiers.

LVSE has highlighted Vegas' status as one of the nation's fastest-growing communities, with a population of 1.6 million that expands monthly, and its rich tourism industry as attractions. Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority vice president of marketing Terry Jicinsky said 7.3 percent growth in tourism from 2003 should lead the LVCVA to increase previous 2004 tourism projections, of 36 million.

Groups representing Washington, Norfolk and Northern Virginia visited Houston to curry favor and garner some attention for their proposals with MLB owners and executives.

Shapiro and Portland representatives, though, chose not to go to Texas to lobby.

About the latest decision deadline, Shapiro said he will take DuPuy at his word.

"He said that's the target, something they're working toward," Shapiro said. "But it's a very complicated process, and they're doing all the appropriate things to analyze this correctly. If it takes more time, it takes more time."