BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati Reds have asked Hamilton County for a 45,000-seat stadium costing at least $235 million for which they would contribute $30 million upfront and pay $2 million a year in rent for 10 years.
In return, the team has asked for all revenue from baseball and non-baseball events and forgiveness of any past-due rent.
Those are among the elements of a proposed stadium deal contained in a March report by Major League Baseball consultant Bob Starkey. His report and other related stadium documents were obtained Wednesday by The Enquirer under the state's Public Records Act.
County officials have refused to release all records pertaining to Reds stadium negotiations. But the released documents offer the first detailed look into the secret discussions that have been conducted sporadically since a sales-tax increase was adopted in March 1996 to pay for new stadiums for the Reds and Bengals.
Negotiators will not go beyond the points made in the documents, leaving open whether some of the proposals and counteroffers have changed since they were recorded.
Mr. Starkey, who is participating directly in talks between the Reds and the county, sent his report to County Administrator David Krings. It outlines in detail what the Reds want:
A $30 million upfront contribution from the club. That's much lower than the $80 million the county asked for early in the negotiations, according to a letter Mr. Krings sent Reds CEO Marge Schott.
An annual rent payment of $2 million a year for the first 10 years. That's considerably more than the $11.7 million in rent over nine years that the Bengals are required to pay for their $270 million stadium.
All in-park revenues including tickets, concessions, advertising, restaurants, suites, club seats, naming rights and future enhancements and rights.
A county-built 4,000-vehicle parking structure adjacent to the stadium and parking revenues.
All revenues from non-baseball events. The club points out, however, that the Reds haven't requested specific dollar-amount guarantees like the Bengals got in their deal.
Forgiveness of past-due rent, which totals nearly $6.5 million. Mrs. Schott argues that the team does not owe back rent. That's because, she argues, the city of Cincinnati broke its agreement with the team when it owned Riverfront Stadium, now known as Cinergy Field. Stadium cost should not be less than $235 million, assuming a completion date of 2000. It should have 45,000 seats, including 3,000 club seats, seating in 50 luxury suites and state-of-the-art amenities.
A 26-year agreement with occupancy no later than March 1, 2000. County officials have acknowledged that timing would be impossible with the site between Cinergy Field and Riverfront Coliseum known as Baseball on Main or "The Wedge." The Reds repeatedly have rejected the other option, Broadway Commons at Broadway and Reading Road. In another document, notes from a February 1997 meeting in Kansas City detail some features that the Reds want in a new ballpark. The Reds want a "kid's play area" - larger than the one at Coors Field in Denver - and a picnic area. The Reds also requested a street-level Reds Hall of Fame Museum with a team shop.
Few of the documents reveal the county's current thinking. In a letter dated June 27, 1996, Mr. Krings outlined an initial lease deal to Mrs. Schott.
In the letter, the county projects that Reds' revenues would increase by about $36 million annually, and it asks the team to contribute $80 million toward the cost of building the stadium.
The documents also shed some light on why the negotiations have taken so long.
In October 1996, a Chicago attorney representing the county wrote a letter to Reds Managing Executive John Allen that expressed concern over Mr. Allen's description to Mr. Krings of "internal disagreement" within the Reds organization.
The county wanted to be sure Mr. Allen had the authority to sign a lease. A letter from National League President Leonard S. Coleman Jr. dated Oct. 21, 1996 gives Hamilton County that assurance.
"While Mrs. Schott has the right from time to time to participate directly, Mr. Allen is the only person authorized to negotiate with you on behalf of the Cincinnati Reds and he should be viewed as such," Mr. Coleman's letter states.
Another letter, this one written by Mr. Allen and Mrs. Schott and sent to the three county commissioners, requests a meeting with the commissioners themselves.
The letter, dated March 10, 1997, states the club wants to talk to commissioners about putting a stadium just west of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. Mr. Allen has since said publicly that the Reds have given up on the coveted spot.
Even so, the letter criticizes the two locations that the team has to choose from: Broadway Commons and Baseball on Main.
It states that both of those sites "present a number of negative factors and virtually insurmountable concerns from our perspective as well as the public interest that you may not be aware of."
County commissioners said in March that the Reds should negotiate with Mr. Krings, the county administrator. Mr. Krings and Mr. Allen declined Wednesday to discuss any of the documents in detail.
Mr. Krings said only that both the team's and the county's positions in the negotiations have changed since March, the date of the most recent Reds proposal made available.
Hamilton County Commission President Bob Bedinghaus stressed that the documents must be viewed in the context of continuing negotiations. He firmly disputed one notion in Mr. Starkey's March report, in which he said the county had told the Reds that the half-cent sales tax increase would not generate enough money to offer the Reds a deal similar to the one the Bengals got.
"Without question, we have kept in mind from the very beginning of this process the fact that we have to build two sports facilities," Mr. Bedinghaus said.
In their proposals, the Reds argue that the club needs a better deal than the Bengals got from the county because the economics of baseball is tougher in a small market like Cincinnati.
Mr. Allen told the county in December 1996 that the team had an operating loss of $14 million in 1996. Losses in 1995 were $17 million and $18 million in 1994.
But Mr. Bedinghaus said it "just isn't proper" to compare the county's agreements with the two teams.
Today's Reds report
REDS 7, BREWERS 4
DEION: IT'S REDS OR RETIREMENT
SHAW SHRUGS OFF ALL-STAR SNUB Tim Sullivan column
CINERGY DOGS BEST OF SHOW
NOTEBOOK: DEION STAYS HERE
5 COLOR PHOTOS
BOX SCORE, RUNS
ASTROS-REDS SCOUTING REPORT
Previous stadium stories
'WEDGE' FOES DEMAND STADIUM STUDY July 2, 1997
'WEDGE' TO BE PUT TO THE TEST July 1, 1997
REDS UNMOVED BY PRICE GAP June 20, 1997
DOWLIN SAYS BROADWAY CAN SAVE $62 MILLION June 19, 1997
BALLPARK ESTIMATE: $230 MILLION June 11, 1997
RIVERFRONT SITE BETTER BET June 6, 1997
BROADWAY, 'WEDGE' ONLY OPTIONS LEFT? June 4, 1997
REDS RELENT ON WEST SITE June 3, 1997
NOTHING WILL DISLODGE REDS FROM RIVERFRONT Tim Sullivan column, June 3, 1997
REDS TO KENTUCKY? WHISPERS PERSIST May 31, 1997
NO DEAL WITH REDS SEEN BY JUNE 1 May 23, 1997
REDS EASE STANCE ON 'WEDGE' May 16, 1997
REDS MIGHT HAVE TO WAITMay 5, 1997
COSTS GOING UPMay 5, 1997
SCHOTT SAYS 'NO WAY' TO WEDGE April 12, 1997
SULLIVAN COLUMN April 12, 1997
CITY COULD PAY TO DELAY STADIUM April 10, 1997
BENGALS LEERY OF 'WEDGE' April 9, 1997
THE GREAT STADIUM DEBATE
BALLPARK DEBATE LINGERS ON April 6, 1997
NEIGHBORHOOD A BIG PART OF BALLPARK April 6, 1997
BALLPARK, FANS' HONEYMOON SHORT April 6, 1997
REDS HAVE HURDLES, HELP IN SITE HUNT April 6, 1997
KENTUCKY DESERVES REDS, TOOApril 6, 1997
BORGMAN CARTOON
April 6, 1997
REDS PLAN SEAT LICENSING March 14, 1997
REDS TOLD BENGALS NOT PICKING SITE March 12, 1997
MAYOR SUPPORTS BROADWAY March 5, 1997
DESPITE FLOOD, REDS DON'T WAVER FROM RIVER March 5, 1997
BASEBALL ON MAIN PROPOSED Feb. 26, 1997
WEDGE SITE GETS BOOST FROM COUNTY Feb. 22, 1997
REDS, COUNTY RESUME STADIUM TALKS Feb. 19, 1997
ONLY CRIME IS NOT CONSIDERING BROADWAY Feb. 18, 1997
RIVER SITE OR LAWSUIT Feb. 15, 1997
REDS ARE READY TO PLAY HARDBALL Feb. 15, 1997
SCHOTT THREATENS TO MOVE IF REDS AREN'T ON RIVER Feb. 14, 1997
