From Here, Behring Doesn’t See Move
Seahawks president Dave Behring spoke at length Wednesday night in Spokane about his role in the NFL organization and how he expects the team to head north in the AFC West standings next season.
Behring was less willing to discuss speculation the Seahawks are interested in heading south - to Los Angeles, which will be without an NFL team if the Raiders return to Oakland. The Boston Globe reported this month that the Seahawks, unhappy with the Kingdome, were covertly orchestrating a move to the nation’s second-largest TV market. “Well, there’s going to be a lot of speculation, rumor, no matter what happens,” Behring said Wednesday, shortly before addressing 60 members of the Spokane Seahawkers fan club assembled at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park. “Our goal has been, and will continue to be, to work on improvements at the Kingdome.”
The Seahawks will gain leverage in their battle to renovate the Kingdome if Raiders owner Al Davis decides to leave Southern California.
“There is no question that there is a strong imperative now to not have a vacuum in Los Angeles,” Behring said. “The NFL wants at least one team there, and they prefer to have two teams there. You’ve got the second-largest TV market. Fox has paid a tremendous amount of money to broadcast the TV rights, and if there’s no team down there - which it appears now is gonna happen - that’s going to create a problem from the TV side of it.”
Whether Behring and the Seahawks are part of the solution is less certain.
“We’ve made progress talking to the county and some different business people for the last couple of weeks, and we hope that progress continues,” Behring added. “I’ve been much more satisfied in the last couple of weeks that I was in the previous seven or eight months, so that’s a good sign.”
The Seahawks have demanded a $120 million renovation of the Kingdome and claim their lease - through 2005 - has been violated because the stadium hasn’t been adequately maintained.
Several financing options have been discussed, including using money left over from a proposed King County sales tax that would finance a separate baseball stadium for the Mariners.
At a news conference Wednesday in Seattle, King County executive Gary Locke said he expects the Seahawks to honor the Kingdome lease. Behring, in turn, expects improvements.
“Our goal is to see a vastly improved Kingdome,” Behring said, “for the fans and for the organization, so we’re going to keep heading in that direction.”
, DataTimes