buffalobillsfootball Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Giants, Jets Receive $300 Million in NFL Stadium Loan By Aaron Kuriloff Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Giants and Jets received approval for $300 million in National Football League loans toward a shared $1.2 billion stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Representatives of the league's teams, meeting in Dallas, voted 30-2 to grant each New York franchise $150 million through a program that provides financing for stadium construction, Giants co-owner Steve Tisch said in an interview. No other single project has received more than $150 million since the NFL's program began in 1999. ``With no other obstacles, we're in good position to break ground in the spring,'' Tisch said. The Jets-Giants request risked being the first that the owners rejected. Some owners were concerned that increased revenue from the new stadium, once added to the players' salary pool, would boost payrolls for all teams. Owners of both teams said the privately financed stadium was contingent on the $300 million NFL contribution. The NFL players union said this week it was willing to cut the salary ceiling by $800 million over 15 years to reduce the stadium's impact on other teams. It said a new facility would raise salaries by around $2 million a year. With financing secure, the next step for the stadium project is an environmental-impact hearing Dec. 13-14 before two New Jersey state commissions. Share Stadium The Giants and Jets said they should get twice the usual loan because they are the only NFL teams sharing a facility. They agreed to split the costs of replacing 30-year-old Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, after the Jets were unable to get public funding for a stadium on Manhattan's West Side. The teams' plans call for building an 84,000-seat stadium next door to Giants Stadium, with a footprint of about 630,000 square feet, according to a document submitted to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Meadowlands Commission, which will hold the hearings next week. The Giants plan to build a 20-acre training facility in the southwest corner of the development, along with parking areas and tailgating zones. Broadcast facilities, sports medicine clinics, stores, restaurants and a New Jersey Transit rail spur also are part of the project. Playing in the U.S.'s largest market, the Giants had annual revenue of $182 million, according to a 2006 listing by Forbes magazine, while the Jets had about $179 million. The Washington Redskins led the league, with $303 million. Revenue A new stadium might help both New York teams generate more money from skyboxes, luxury seating, parking, concessions and naming rights, even after borrowing for construction, said Craig Depken, who teaches sports economics at the University of Texas, Arlington. Depken said the average NFL team gains about $20 million in profit annually from a new stadium. ``I imagine at current rates, the debt will be something like $20-25 million a year, so they'll need to get more than the $20 million league average,'' Depken said. ``I have no doubt they'll get it.'' The teams may make more money, and help pay for the stadium, by selling seat licenses, a one-time fee for a transferable permit to buy tickets, said Max Muhleman, president of Private Sports Consultants in Charlotte, North Carolina, who has worked on stadium projects for the Carolina Panthers and other NFL teams. ``They receive ownership or equity in their seats that can be transferred or sold if they wish,'' Muhleman said. ``This is not a front-burner need, but it could contribute a significant amount of capital, around $90 or $100 million.'' Revenue Restrictions Other teams don't share in local revenue that new stadiums generate, such as money from luxury seats, skyboxes, parking and naming rights. Because the NFL's labor agreement calculates the salary ceiling as a percentage of total league revenue, the new stadium also will raise player salaries for all teams. Ralph Wilson, owner of the Buffalo Bills, was one of two owners to vote against the labor agreement in March 2006. U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, joined Wilson in an Oct. 10 news conference saying the agreement threatened the NFL's competitive balance because it left teams such as Buffalo with income pegged to the local economy and expenses dictated by teams in bigger markets such as New York City, Washington or Dallas. Gene Upshaw, president of the National Football League Player's Association, said this week that the union would accept an $800 million cut over 15 years in the salary limit -- $102 million per team this season -- in order to alleviate concerns about labor costs to other teams. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones also said in an interview in October that owners were working to mitigate revenue differences and called giving the Giants and Jets $300 million a ``reasonable approach.'' ``I think we are working and have worked with the player's association to mitigate that revenue so it can take steps to clear the way for a new stadium,'' Jones said. 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Lori Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Didn't catch it when I skimmed the article, but I bet I can guess who cast one of the two "no" votes. So now, through the G-3 fund, the Bills are funding $10 million worth of a new playpen for two high-revenue teams in New Jersey... on top of the money they forked over for new stadiums for the Cowboys and Patriots. Wonderful. background on the G-3 fund ADD: mercurynews.com is a registration site. As always, I suggest a trip to bugmenot.com instead... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Flanders Posted December 7, 2006 Share Posted December 7, 2006 Didn't catch it when I skimmed the article, but I bet I can guess who cast one of the two "no" votes. So now, through the G-3 fund, the Bills are funding $10 million worth of a new playpen for two high-revenue teams in New Jersey... on top of the money they forked over for new stadiums for the Cowboys and Patriots. Wonderful. 859709[/snapback] In addition, $42 million was given to the Chiefs for Arrowhead improvements...the Washington Post is reporting that the G-3 account is now dried up. Wash Post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblehead Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 the Bills are funding $10 million worth of a new playpen for two high-revenue teams in New Jersey. Can't we just give them about 15,000 of our seats at the Ralph instead? Do all three teams a favor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted December 8, 2006 Share Posted December 8, 2006 Didn't catch it when I skimmed the article, but I bet I can guess who cast one of the two "no" votes. So now, through the G-3 fund, the Bills are funding $10 million worth of a new playpen for two high-revenue teams in New Jersey... on top of the money they forked over for new stadiums for the Cowboys and Patriots. Wonderful. background on the G-3 fund ADD: mercurynews.com is a registration site. As always, I suggest a trip to bugmenot.com instead... 859709[/snapback] My first reaction to the article was that this was good news for the Bills as this deal seems to cement the Jets and the Giants in as the two teams who play their home games in NJ leaving the Bills as the only team to play in a home stadium in New York State. I did worry about the precedent which would be set for NYS if it ever floats and backs a substantial bond to pay for building a new stadium in WNY if that deal leads to the state spending a bunch of corporate welfare on the NY teams after the sent dollars out way. This deal leaves the Bills as the only tea, in NYS and perhaps Ralph can extort this huge taxpayer subsidy for his business. It would be philosophically wrong but certainly WNY and Bills fans would make out like bandits if this gift from downstate residents who fork over the vast lionshare of NYS tax dollars to those of us who live in WNY. Ralph may truly be senile and voted against this, but being a good businessman I soubt he would turn down free money, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted December 9, 2006 Share Posted December 9, 2006 Didn't catch it when I skimmed the article, but I bet I can guess who cast one of the two "no" votes. So now, through the G-3 fund, the Bills are funding $10 million worth of a new playpen for two high-revenue teams in New Jersey... on top of the money they forked over for new stadiums for the Cowboys and Patriots. Wonderful. background on the G-3 fund ADD: mercurynews.com is a registration site. As always, I suggest a trip to bugmenot.com instead... 859709[/snapback] My first reaction to the article was that this was good news for the Bills as this deal seems to cement the Jets and the Giants in as the two teams who play their home games in NJ leaving the Bills as the only team to play in a home stadium in New York State. I did worry about the precedent which would be set for NYS if it ever floats and backs a substantial bond to pay for building a new stadium in WNY if that deal leads to the state spending a bunch of corporate welfare on the NY teams after the sent dollars out way. This deal leaves the Bills as the only tea, in NYS and perhaps Ralph can extort this huge taxpayer subsidy for his business. It would be philosophically wrong but certainly WNY and Bills fans would make out like bandits if this gift from downstate residents who fork over the vast lionshare of NYS tax dollars to those of us who live in WNY. Ralph may truly be senile and voted against this, but being a good businessman I soubt he would turn down free money, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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