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PHILADELPHIA -- Barring a breakdown in his team's lease negotiations with city officials, Colts owner Jim Irsay vowed Wednesday to keep the club in Indianapolis through at least 2013.
However, Irsay continued to leave himself an escape clause.
"We're going to be in Indianapolis for a long time," he told The Indianapolis Star while taking a break from the NFL owners' meetings, which concluded Wednesday. "I'm going to live up to my part of the lease. It's through 2013.
"That's the kind of person I am. I'm not running out from under that lease."
That commitment, though, must be reciprocal.
The lease, revised in 1998 and intended to be revisited, requires the city to keep the Colts in the middle of the league's 32 teams in terms of revenue and provide a "first-class" facility.
Irsay said a payment from the city within the next 30 months could approach $30 million. Covering a two-year period, that would meet a requirement of the lease to keep the Colts at the league median.
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However, Irsay continued to leave himself an escape clause.
"We're going to be in Indianapolis for a long time," he told The Indianapolis Star while taking a break from the NFL owners' meetings, which concluded Wednesday. "I'm going to live up to my part of the lease. It's through 2013.
"That's the kind of person I am. I'm not running out from under that lease."
That commitment, though, must be reciprocal.
The lease, revised in 1998 and intended to be revisited, requires the city to keep the Colts in the middle of the league's 32 teams in terms of revenue and provide a "first-class" facility.
Irsay said a payment from the city within the next 30 months could approach $30 million. Covering a two-year period, that would meet a requirement of the lease to keep the Colts at the league median.
more
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