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By Daniel Kaplan
Dallas Business Journal
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Feb. 19, 2006
Stadium funding for many NFL teams -- including $76.5 million for the Dallas Cowboys' facility planned for Arlington -- could become ensnared in a dispute with the players' union, according to an attorney representing the players union.
However, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the team will get its money for the stadium project, with or without union approval.
The league's stadium-financing program, or G-3, requires the approval of its union, which has verbally sparred with the league over extending the collective-bargaining agreement between the union and the owners. The future of the stadium program also is entangled in the question of how the league's 32 teams share their own revenue.
"G-3 is done until a (labor) deal is done," said Jeffrey Kessler, the union's outside legal counsel.
Speaking shortly before the Super Bowl, Jones said that if the league extends the current agreement, then the union would be on board with the stadium-funding program. If the agreement is not renewed, he added, then the league does not need union approval.
But the G-3 program specifically calls for union approval, so it is unclear exactly how Dallas can get the money without the union's nod, one league source said. The agreement does not expire for another two years. The Cowboys' new stadium is estimated to cost $650 million to build and open in 2009.
Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple told the Dallas Business Journal that because of the delicate status of negotiations, no one from the Cowboys could speak further on the matter.
"We are certainly concerned about the G-3," said John Mara, executive vice president of the New York Giants, which are planning to build a $1 billion stadium with the Jets. "If we do not get a G-3 vote, that has a serious effect on our stadium."
The Jets and Giants are planning to ask for a combined $300 million from the stadium-funding pool, which represents about 30% of the cost of the stadium. The teams hoped to ask for the G-3 approval at the league's annual meeting at the end of March and move into the new venue by 2009.
G-3 was created seven years ago to help teams build stadiums. The money comes from a share of each NFL team's media revenue and the visiting team's share of club-seat money that is generated by the new stadium.
Union approval
Because the visitors' share otherwise would go into the pool of money shared with the players, the union has to approve each disbursement.
Already, eight teams have received $663 million from G-3. Last June, the league approved $76.5 million for Dallas and $34 million for the Indianapolis Colts. But in December, union chief Gene Upshaw said he was withholding judgment about whether he would approve the Cowboys disbursement.
Colts Senior Executive Vice President Pete Ward said the league planned to take up the issue of the team's G-3 money with the union shortly. The money in the Colts case represents only 7% of the expected cost of the stadium.
Even if G-3 dies, Jones argued, the league would continue funding stadiums by returning to the old waiver system. Prior to 1999, when G-3 took effect, the league often dispensed with the requirement to hand over the visitor share of club-seat money for teams that were financing new stadiums.
DBJ Staff Writer Dave Moore contributed to this report.
© 2006 Dallas Business Journal
Link
Dallas Business Journal
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Feb. 19, 2006
Stadium funding for many NFL teams -- including $76.5 million for the Dallas Cowboys' facility planned for Arlington -- could become ensnared in a dispute with the players' union, according to an attorney representing the players union.
However, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the team will get its money for the stadium project, with or without union approval.
The league's stadium-financing program, or G-3, requires the approval of its union, which has verbally sparred with the league over extending the collective-bargaining agreement between the union and the owners. The future of the stadium program also is entangled in the question of how the league's 32 teams share their own revenue.
"G-3 is done until a (labor) deal is done," said Jeffrey Kessler, the union's outside legal counsel.
Speaking shortly before the Super Bowl, Jones said that if the league extends the current agreement, then the union would be on board with the stadium-funding program. If the agreement is not renewed, he added, then the league does not need union approval.
But the G-3 program specifically calls for union approval, so it is unclear exactly how Dallas can get the money without the union's nod, one league source said. The agreement does not expire for another two years. The Cowboys' new stadium is estimated to cost $650 million to build and open in 2009.
Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple told the Dallas Business Journal that because of the delicate status of negotiations, no one from the Cowboys could speak further on the matter.
"We are certainly concerned about the G-3," said John Mara, executive vice president of the New York Giants, which are planning to build a $1 billion stadium with the Jets. "If we do not get a G-3 vote, that has a serious effect on our stadium."
The Jets and Giants are planning to ask for a combined $300 million from the stadium-funding pool, which represents about 30% of the cost of the stadium. The teams hoped to ask for the G-3 approval at the league's annual meeting at the end of March and move into the new venue by 2009.
G-3 was created seven years ago to help teams build stadiums. The money comes from a share of each NFL team's media revenue and the visiting team's share of club-seat money that is generated by the new stadium.
Union approval
Because the visitors' share otherwise would go into the pool of money shared with the players, the union has to approve each disbursement.
Already, eight teams have received $663 million from G-3. Last June, the league approved $76.5 million for Dallas and $34 million for the Indianapolis Colts. But in December, union chief Gene Upshaw said he was withholding judgment about whether he would approve the Cowboys disbursement.
Colts Senior Executive Vice President Pete Ward said the league planned to take up the issue of the team's G-3 money with the union shortly. The money in the Colts case represents only 7% of the expected cost of the stadium.
Even if G-3 dies, Jones argued, the league would continue funding stadiums by returning to the old waiver system. Prior to 1999, when G-3 took effect, the league often dispensed with the requirement to hand over the visitor share of club-seat money for teams that were financing new stadiums.
DBJ Staff Writer Dave Moore contributed to this report.
© 2006 Dallas Business Journal
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