August 25, 2004

Baseball owners want best ballpark deal for Expos

PHILADELPHIA

Trying to get the best possible ballpark deal for the Montreal Expos, major league baseball has instructed its lawyers to press ahead with negotiations involving four of the areas bidding for the team.

Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, said meetings are taking place but didn’t specify any communities. A baseball official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said meetings were set up with Northern Virginia; Washington, D.C; Las Vegas; and Norfolk, Va.

Stadium sites, land acquisition, government funding and legislation, and road construction are among the items being talked about.

“Eventually, these discussions are going to have to evolve to a point where either we say or the municipality or governmental entity says, ‘We’re as far as we can go. This is the deal that we’ve got before us,’ ” DuPuy said.

Commissioner Bud Selig, who will make the decision based on the consensus of owners, has said he doesn’t want to hurt any franchise. There has not been agreement among owners over whether a team in Washington or Northern Virginia would cut into the Orioles’ ticket and broadcast revenue. The bid by San Juan is not under active consideration.

Baseball moved 22 Expos’ home games from Montreal to Puerto Rico in both 2003 and 2004 in an effort to increase revenue.

The Associated Press

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