It's the deal of Bears President Michael McCaskey's dreams.
Baltimore is offering to give any NFL owner a $200 millionopen-air, natural-grass, football-only stadium. Rent free.
"All an owner has to do is sign a lease," Maryland StadiumAuthority Chairman John Moag Jr. said Sunday. "It's the best dealout there."
Baltimore is one of several cities that probably would giveMcCaskey the red carpet if Illinois fails to help the Bears buy a newstadium and McCaskey carries out his threat to leave the state.
But Baltimore is a small market that would compete with thenearby Washington Redskins. "The last time Baltimore had a team,they weren't filling it to capacity," said Mayor Daley's presssecretary, Jim Williams.
Baltimore would earn less broadcast revenue than Chicago. Thatdoesn't matter much in the NFL, Moag said, because teams share thebulk of broadcast revenue. Teams do keep revenue from radio andpreseason television broadcasts, however.
Maryland is willing to pay $160 million for a new stadium nextto the Camden Yards baseball stadium, plus $40 million for land.
The 70,000-seat stadium would have 108 skyboxes and 7,500 clubseats, and be funded by lottery revenues and a 10 percent admissiontax. The owner's only expense would be maintenance, Moag said.
It's unlikely Illinois would try to top the offer. Gov. Edgar"is not going to get into a bidding war," said spokesman MikeLawrence.
Moag said McCaskey visited Baltimore about six weeks ago to seeCamden Yards, but didn't discuss moving to the city. McCaskey hassaid only that he's gotten calls from several cities.
Baltimore has been offering to build an NFL stadium sinceshortly after the Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1984.Baltimore lost out to Jacksonville and Carolina in the competitionfor expansion teams. And the city has been rejected by three teamsthat have recently moved to other cities.
Stung by the rejections, Maryland is expected to take itsstadium offer off the table as early as next spring. Maryland Gov.Parris Glendening recently told the Baltimore Sun the city would not"be brides in waiting forever."
Other likely Bears suitors include Los Angeles and Memphis,Tenn. Los Angeles is a large market, but the Rams and Raidersrecently left the city for better stadium deals and more enthusiasticfans elsewhere. Memphis was a finalist for an expansion team, butit's a small market and some people question whether it has enoughfans who could afford high ticket prices.
McCaskey is threatening to leave Illinois if the Legislaturefails to give him an open-air, 74,000 seat stadium. Taxpayers wouldpay $185 million, about two-thirds of the cost.
Private financing, including rent, advertising and "personalseat licenses," would pay the remaining $100 million. A seat licensewould give a fan the right to buy season tickets, McCaskey toldWBBM-AM radio's "At Issue" program Sunday.
A license could cost anywhere from $600 a seat to severalthousand dollars, McCaskey said. A license holder could transfer hisor her seat to someone else, sell it at a profit or leave it to anheir.
McCaskey said he hoped "we could use such payments to hold down(ticket) price increases."
Contributing: Charles Nicodemus
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