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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Adams, Oilers Move Closer To Making Nashville Nfl Home

Jody Goldstein Houston Chronicle

Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams said he expects to sign an agreement this weekend that would commit his NFL team to move to Nashville, Tenn., possibly as soon as 1996, as long as the financial terms previously agreed to are met.

“Things are progressing favorably down in Nashville as far as our work on the project agreement,” Adams said at a rare news conference from the NFL owners meetings. “We hope that by this weekend, we have an agreement for the (Tennessee) governor, the (Nashville) mayor and myself to sign.”

The agreement would legally bind the Oilers to move, if Tennessee comes through on the financial particulars.

The fate of the Oilers was expected to be a major topic of discussion at these meetings. Instead, Art Modell’s decision to move the Browns to Baltimore has overshadowed the Oilers and their plans. Adams may address his fellow owners Wednesday, though no vote on the Oilers’ proposed move will be taken.

And though Adams has said he would abide by a federal court decree that he honor his lease at the Astrodome in Houston through the 1997 season, he now says it is unlikely the Oilers will remain in Houston after this year.

The court decree says the Oilers can move sooner if the club can reach a buyout agreement with stadium lease-holder Astrodome USA, which is owned by Drayton McLane Jr., who also owns the Houston Astros. Because McLane stands to lose a great deal of money over the next two years if the public knows the Oilers are moving, Adams thinks McLane would allow the lease to be bought out.

“I would certainly (talk to McLane about it),” said Adams, adding that the subject has not yet been broached. “If we get the done deal with Nashville, it would be tough to play as a lame-duck team. I’ve never heard of a team playing as a lame duck for two years. If he’s only getting 15,000 or 20,000 people in the stands, I don’t know that McLane would want to open the doors.

“But that federal judge is sitting there right now, and we’re under his thumb. There won’t be any trucks leaving late at night or anything like that.”

Adams described the proposed move as a three-stage process. If the agreement with Nashville is signed this weekend, the process would move into stage two, which would entail selling luxury boxes and seats in the new stadium that the city has promised. Stage three, which Adams estimated would begin in March, would be clearing the final hurdles to begin groundbreaking on April 1.

Adams said the Oilers’ situation is separate from that of the Browns. It is thought, however, that an owners’ vote of approval for Modell to move his team would help smooth things for Adams next spring. The owners will not vote on Modell’s move until mid-January. Adams has said Modell will have his vote.