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NFL, NADA resume Super Bowl shuffle

"It's a fresh sharing of information and further sharing of the complexities involved . . .''

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 29, 2001

NEW ORLEANS -- The NFL and the National Automobile Dealers Association resumed talks Friday in attempt to work out a schedule change that would enable the city to keep the Super Bowl.

With a week's worth of games postponed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the NFL hopes to move the Super Bowl back one week to Feb. 3 -- the same weekend that NADA is set to hold a major convention in the city. If an agreement cannot be reached, the NFL might move the game out of New Orleans, a possibility community leaders are working hard to avoid.

"The talks have resumed," David Hyatt of NADA said. "It's a fresh sharing of information and further sharing of the complexities involved in trying to do this.

"For those that would like it to happen it's too early to be either optimistic or pessimistic."

Meanwhile, members of the New Orleans Hotel and Motel Association worked to switch rooms to accommodate the potential new Super Bowl date.

"All the parties want to get it done," said Bill Lankopp, executive vice president of the association. "What that means is everybody has to give a little and take a little."

The NFL has not set a deadline for resolving the situation, league spokesman Greg Aiello said.

The NFL has contacted Miami, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles to see if they could host the game. If it were moved, NFL officials have said they would consider holding the league's two conference finals in New Orleans the weekend of Jan. 27.

Saints owner Tom Benson has contacted other owners with ties to the automobile business looking for help persuading the NADA to move its convention up a week.

Benson said he and others such as Lions owner and Ford executive William Clay Ford Jr. and Vikings owner Red McCombs, have spoken with NADA to seek the group's indulgence so the league won't have to move the Super Bowl. Dolphins owner H. Wayne Huizenga also is a car dealer. Huizenga's position is unknown.

Another complication if the move is made could be handling Super Bowl and the first weekend of Mardi Gras parades.

New Orleans police are used to handling the huge crowds that both events generate, but officials fear they would be stretched thin with the two combined. There are 15 parades scheduled in the greater New Orleans area Feb. 1-3.

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