PA Season Ticket Holder
05-04-2003, 11:50 AM
The Arizona Cardinals are seeking up to $21 million from Arizona State University in a dispute involving signs that paid for a new scoreboard and other improvements at Sun Devil Stadium.
Related info
• ASU AD angered by Cards' claims
An arbitrator last year sided with the Cardinals, who claimed a breach of contract and loss of revenue opportunity. A decision on a financial award could occur within a month.
The dispute is the latest in an acrimonious landlord-tenant relationship that has festered since the NFL franchise moved to Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium from St. Louis in 1988.
The Cardinals, the only NFL team without its own stadium, have sought to develop revenue streams at ASU's Sun Devil Stadium. ASU, in a challenging sports environment and facing red ink in its athletic department, has fought aggressively for its own share of the market.
"We were damaged and had millions of dollars in lost revenue, and they profited," said Michael Bidwill, the Cardinals vice president and general counsel. "They did not have a legal right to the revenues they collected, and we are asking for them back."
Jack Jewett, president of the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing board of the university, said, "ASU intends to vigorously defend the Cardinals' claim for damages. The ASU community has extended itself over a 15-year period to make its facility available to the Cardinals, and I find it a shame that at this stage we find ourselves in this kind of dispute."
Hosting the team has brought $6.1 million to ASU over the past 15 seasons. Revenue included parking, concessions, catering and rent from the Cardinals. Expenses included turf maintenance, staging the game, security and skybox operations and stadium debt service. And although yearly net revenues topped $1 million once, in 1994, ASU says it lost $35,283 in hosting the team in 2002, according to the school's financial records.
ASU Athletic Director Gene Smith said the sports program would be "devastated" if the local arbitrator, Thomas G. Ryan, awarded the NFL team a judgment.
Stadium renovations
The dispute began in 1999, when ASU spent $8 million to renovate Sun Devil Stadium and Wells Fargo Arena. Improvements at the football stadium included a $2 million scoreboard and replay monitor on the southern end. The university funded the renovations primarily with 31 new sponsorship signs, including Dodge, Bashas', adidas and AT&T, around the stadium. A dozen more have been added in the past three years.
The Cardinals, according to legal documents, objected to the move, saying it significantly dwarfed their sponsorship options. Bidwill said Thursday that in 1999, the team was coming off its best season in Arizona and had numerous opportunities to sell more of its own signs at the stadium.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/0502footballspat020-CP.html
Related info
• ASU AD angered by Cards' claims
An arbitrator last year sided with the Cardinals, who claimed a breach of contract and loss of revenue opportunity. A decision on a financial award could occur within a month.
The dispute is the latest in an acrimonious landlord-tenant relationship that has festered since the NFL franchise moved to Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium from St. Louis in 1988.
The Cardinals, the only NFL team without its own stadium, have sought to develop revenue streams at ASU's Sun Devil Stadium. ASU, in a challenging sports environment and facing red ink in its athletic department, has fought aggressively for its own share of the market.
"We were damaged and had millions of dollars in lost revenue, and they profited," said Michael Bidwill, the Cardinals vice president and general counsel. "They did not have a legal right to the revenues they collected, and we are asking for them back."
Jack Jewett, president of the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing board of the university, said, "ASU intends to vigorously defend the Cardinals' claim for damages. The ASU community has extended itself over a 15-year period to make its facility available to the Cardinals, and I find it a shame that at this stage we find ourselves in this kind of dispute."
Hosting the team has brought $6.1 million to ASU over the past 15 seasons. Revenue included parking, concessions, catering and rent from the Cardinals. Expenses included turf maintenance, staging the game, security and skybox operations and stadium debt service. And although yearly net revenues topped $1 million once, in 1994, ASU says it lost $35,283 in hosting the team in 2002, according to the school's financial records.
ASU Athletic Director Gene Smith said the sports program would be "devastated" if the local arbitrator, Thomas G. Ryan, awarded the NFL team a judgment.
Stadium renovations
The dispute began in 1999, when ASU spent $8 million to renovate Sun Devil Stadium and Wells Fargo Arena. Improvements at the football stadium included a $2 million scoreboard and replay monitor on the southern end. The university funded the renovations primarily with 31 new sponsorship signs, including Dodge, Bashas', adidas and AT&T, around the stadium. A dozen more have been added in the past three years.
The Cardinals, according to legal documents, objected to the move, saying it significantly dwarfed their sponsorship options. Bidwill said Thursday that in 1999, the team was coming off its best season in Arizona and had numerous opportunities to sell more of its own signs at the stadium.
http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/0502footballspat020-CP.html