Stadium For Rent: 11. Such a Bargain!

STADIUM FOR RENT:
Tampa Bay's Quest for Major League Baseball
By BOB ANDELMAN

11. Such a Bargain!

"From my point-of-view, the value of baseball is as a
marketing device for St. Petersburg. We want to attract new
business into St. Petersburg. We think the pressure of
baseball is going to help. It's interesting that during the White
Sox incident, the phone was ringing off the hook.
'What's going on down there? Why are the White Sox interested in St. Petersburg?' People around the country were calling and
asking me about business opportunities in St. Petersburg."
-- Marty Normile, Executive Vice President, St. Petersburg Progress

There came to be a grudging inevitability toward expansion as the 1980s came to a close. Population in the Sun Belt, from Florida to Arizona, exploded in the 1970s and '80s. Major League Baseball lagged behind football and basketball in exploiting the new southern markets. And political representatives from baseball-hungry states applied increasing pressure on a succession of baseball commissioners.

St. Petersburg and Denver were the leading contestants for baseball teams, if for no reason other than their 15-plus years of pursuit. But at least seven more cities in the United States and one in Canada would enter bids when the National League in 1990 announced its timetable for expansion.

It was during Peter Ueberroth's administration that a criteria for future expansion was established -- local ownership, baseball-only stadium and 10,000 season-ticket reservations. It fell to baseball commissioner Fay Vincent and National League president Bill White to finally grease up the gears of the owner's squeaky expansion committee.

For real this time.
* * *

June 14, 1990, was the day the National League released its timetable for potential ownership groups to apply, be considered and perhaps be awarded one of the two franchises to begin play in the 1993 season.

Prospective ownership groups were given the month of July to request NL questionnaires and the month of August to complete and return them. Presentations before the four-member expansion committee would take place in September and the committee's "short list" of preferred applicants would be announced in December.

During the first quarter of 1991, the expansion committee planned to visit each city and/or ownership committee on the short list. The committee's final recommendation for two new franchises would be forwarded to National League owners at the June 1991 Major League Baseball meetings in San Diego.

Minor league farm teams for the new franchises would begin play in 1992, followed by participation in an expansion draft in November 1992. The new teams would take the field in April 1993.

The National League published "Expansion Guidelines" to be adhered to by prospective ownership groups. They were:

OWNERSHIP

Prospective owner[s] should have significant community identification and a long-term commitment to the club and the community. Substantial financial resources will have to be available to Baseball. Regardless of ownership form, one person should ultimately be responsible for all club decisions and committed to operating in Baseball's interest rather than for the enhancement of other business activities. If there are multiple ownership interests, there must be willingness on the part of the non- majority owners to step up to majority status if necessary.

STATE and LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Both the state and local governments should have a long-term commitment to a viable working relationship with the club, minimizing or eliminating political pressures. This relationship should include a facilities and manpower commitment. Cooperation will be needed to provide office space, practice facilities, traffic control, police in and around the stadium, feeder roads and airport access and use. There should be recognition of the necessity of the club receiving parking, concession, signage, pay TV and luxury box revenue and cooperation with Baseball's efforts for uniform tax policies on visiting club receipts and player withholding.

STADIUM

A baseball-only facility is preferred, but if it is not a baseball-only stadium, baseball must be given priority at all times over any other event. Minimum capacity is to be 35,000, and there should be adequate parking facilities. Field dimensions must conform with the playing rules and are subject to the approval of the National League and/or Commissioner's Office. The stadium should be accessible by public transportation and nearby highway[s].

LOCATION

An in-depth analysis of the proposed drawing area and the radio and television networks is to be provided to the League as well as an analysis of the location vis-a-vis existing clubs. The demographics must adequately support a Major League Baseball club, both by the local population and television households.

MANAGEMENT

A proposed organization structure must be presented.

OTHER

Expansion clubs must indemnify Major Leagues for cost of acquisition of National Association territory, if applicable.

There must also be identification of spring training facilities.

All leases, television contracts, bank loans, concession agreements and contracts are to be filed with and are subject to the approval of the National League and/or Commissioner's Office if they are related to the operational control of the Club or a potential conflict of interest.

A few more important details emerged over the summer: The cost of applying for a new franchise was $100,000 (refundable). The actual price of buying a team itself was set at $95-million. That excluded the cost of players, farm teams or peanuts. By comparison, the two previous expansion franchises, the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays, were purchased in 1977 for $6.25-million and $7-million respectively. The 1962 expansion teams, the New York Mets and Houston Colt .45s (Astros), cost $1.8-million. (The AL, astounded by the NL's brass in demanding a $95-million expansion fee, wheedled a $42-million piece of the pie before the new teams were announced.)

Start-up expenses beyond the entry fee were estimated between $25-million and $40-million. And new franchises were warned they would not participate in television revenues during their first year, an especially important source of cash for small market teams. New teams would also be expected to compensate minor league teams for acquisition of their territory and the cost of relocation.

A committee chaired by Pittsburgh Pirates chairman Douglas Danforth with New York Mets co-owner Fred Wilpon, National League president Bill White and Houston Astros owner John McMullen was assigned the task of recommending the two best ownership groups/cities. Their decisions would reverberate for years.
* * *

As expected, all three Tampa Bay groups -- led by Morsani, Hammons and Schur -- applied to the National League. Elsewhere, the applicants included:

ORLANDO: William duPont III stepped forward, then back at the deadline. The owner of the NBA Orlando Magic, struggling with real estate and banking problems, gave way to Amway co-founder and billionaire Rich DeVos.

SOUTH FLORIDA: Three groups -- led by Blockbuster Video chairman H. Wayne Huizenga, banker Abel Holtz and local sports official Rick Horrow -- announced plans to pursue a team.

DENVER: Denver boosters believed one of the new franchises was Florida-bound and the other would go to a western city, either Denver or Phoenix. But when the time came to put up or shut up, Denver fans were surprised to find their business community scrambling for dollars. Oilman Marvin Davis thought he had a deal in 1985 to buy the Oakland A's and relocate them to Denver, but it fell through at the last minute. Aggravated, Davis dropped out of the baseball pursuit. John Dikeou, owner of the Triple-A Denver Zephyrs, led Denver's major league effort for years, but by the time baseball was ready for him, his real estate empire had collapsed. John Antonucci, owner of Superior Beverage of Youngstown, Ohio, emerged as general partner of a new group. Coors Brewing Co. said it was interested in baseball: Well, paying $30-million to have its name on a baseball stadium, anyway. Denver also faced the prospect of building a new baseball stadium because Major League Baseball plainly stated that Mile High Stadium, home of the NFL Denver Broncos, was not suitable.

BUFFALO: Mindy and Bob Rich Jr., chief executive of the Rich Products food processing company, already drew more fans to the games of their Triple-A Buffalo Bisons than some big league teams attracted. (The Riches also owned a Class AA franchise in Wichita and a Class A in Niagara Falls.) Although their market was far smaller than others in contention and was unattractive due to cold spring and fall weather, the Riches hoped baseball crazy Buffalo fans would win them points. A Rich team would play at an expanded Pilot Field. Talk show host Larry King and NHL Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs joined the Riches' group.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: A third chance for the home of two lost Washington Senators franchises? If awarded, a new franchise would play at RFK Stadium, home of the NFL Washington Redskins. Democratic National Committee chairman Ron Brown and Republican National Committee chairman Charles Black joined together with developer John Akridge to organize an ownership group for Washington, D.C. Boxer Sugar Ray Leonard also joined. A competing group, led by former St. Petersburg Cardinals co-owner Mark Tracz and Ira Sauls, briefly surfaced with vague plans to bring a team to Northern Virginia.

VANCOUVER: Molson Breweries announced its interest in forming an ownership group and participating as a minority partner. B.C. Stadium, home of the Canadian Football League B.C. Lions, was built for baseball and could be ready for immediate occupancy.

PHOENIX: Marvin Stone made his money in the 1960s in real estate and publishing. He broke into baseball as owner of the Triple-A Phoenix Firebirds. He figured Arizona was ready to join the Show. Phoenix would need to build a stadium. (Stone dropped out before the NL short list was announced in December.)

SACRAMENTO: Greg Lukenbill, owner of the NBA Sacramento Kings, attempted to lure the San Francisco Giants to California's state capital in the late 1980s, stepped forward to purchase an expansion franchise. Sacramento would need to build a stadium if awarded a team.

NASHVILLE: Larry Schmittou, owner of the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, formed a local ownership group to pursue an NL franchise. Also participating: singer/actor Jerry Reed; singer Richard Sterban of the Oak Ridge Boys; and University of Tennessee president Lamar Alexander. Greer Stadium, home of the Sounds, could temporarily accommodate an expansion franchise until a new stadium would be built.

AMERICA'S TEAM: Florida businessman Joel Glazer, 23, applied for a franchise that would play 20 home games in each of four cities -- choosing from Tampa Bay, South Florida, Denver, Buffalo and Washington, D.C. "This is an idea for the 1990s," Glazer told the Denver Post. "It's the future of baseball."
* * *

Weeks before the expansion timetable was revealed, one of St. Petersburg's most important baseball boosters was struck down.

A brain tumor in May 1990 and resulting stroke left Jim Healey in a wheelchair, paralyzed and unable to speak, capable of only limited communication through a nod of the head or a squeeze of your arm.

Meanwhile, Jack Lake had been making steady progress recuperating from his strokes. He got around, with help, and usually kept his weekly lunch dates with the remaining "Bat Boys." But instead of huddling with friend Jim to discuss acquisition strategies and finances, Healey could only listen without comment as Lake sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" to his dear friend and patted his hand.

That the city's baseball pioneers could both be struck down would give pause to Rick Dodge, the younger man who picked up the ball from Healey and Lake and hit it as hard and as far as he could during the 1988 negotiations between St. Petersburg and the White Sox.

Each morning, Dodge considered the day ahead and wondered when the manipulation and duplicity of Major League Baseball's owners would finally suck the life out of him, too.

END CHAPTER 11

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