Seattle Wants Nfl To Offer Future Super Bowl
Legislation being drawn up by one state lawmaker would link financing for a new football stadium to a future Super Bowl in Seattle.
NFL officials have strongly supported the campaign for a new stadium in Seattle, but the league has all but ruled out a cold-weather locale for the big annual game.
“NFL rules are made to be changed,” said Rep. Steve Van Luven, R-Bellevue, who is drafting stadium-financing legislation.
NFL commissioner “Paul Tagliabue came to town to put pressure on the County Council,” Van Luven said.
“Well, that’s a two-way street … We’re going to be requesting a future Super Bowl date.”
That’s the message Van Luven sent Wednesday to Tagliabue and prospective Seahawks buyer Paul Allen.
Van Luven also said legislation he is drafting to finance the open-air stadium sought by Allen won’t include a 24-hour on-line gambling option. It will include a provision that if Allen ever sells the franchise, 25 percent of any profit must be paid to the stadium authority. Yet another condition is that 10 percent of the seats must be affordable to moderate-income fans.
Allen previously agreed to profit sharing - as high as 50-50 under some circumstances - if he ever sells the team.
He would love to bring the Super Bowl to Seattle but won’t make a new stadium contingent on such an agreement, said Susan Pierson, a spokeswoman for Allen.
“That’s between the Legislature and the NFL,” she said. “It’s nothing we’ve asked for.”
She added that NFL officials have told Allen’s representatives that a Seattle Super Bowl is not out of the question.
Meanwhile, in Seattle, another hurdle was cleared in the push to build a new $414 million Mariners stadium with 45,500 seats and a retractable roof in time for baseball’s season opener in 1999.
The King County Council budget committee approved a $25.2 million loan to the baseball stadium authority so construction can begin without waiting for resolution of legal challenges that have hamstrung bond sales.
The full council is expected to approve the loan, which increases total county lending to the project to more than $33 million.