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NFL, car dealers keep talking

New Orleans' mayor remains confident, but the auto group says there are still problems.

©Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 3, 2001

NEW ORLEANS -- Though the mayor of New Orleans was all but certain the Super Bowl would be played there Feb. 3, the NFL and an auto dealers group still were working Tuesday to resolve problems with switching dates.

"This is not a done deal yet," said David Hyatt, spokesman for the National Automobile Dealers Association. "We have logistical problems. We have some other problems."

Hyatt said a NADA committee sent a reworded copy of the latest NFL proposal back to the league for what he called "technical clarifications." He would not elaborate.

He said four major hotels, including the Hilton, have not returned agreements guaranteeing NADA rooms on their new date. The Hilton is to be their convention headquarters. Another hotel, the Fairmont, has told NADA they will have rooms available but not the space needed for convention functions.

New Orleans mayor Marc Morial said Monday the switch was "99 percent certain."

But NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the deal has not been completed.

"We've asked them to get back to us, and we haven't heard yet," he said.

NADA wants the NFL to cover its multi-million-dollar expenses and losses of shifting its convention.

The Super Bowl had been scheduled for Jan. 27, but the NFL wants to delay the playoffs a week because of the week it took off after the terrorist attacks. Its other alternatives are playing Feb. 3 in another city or condensing the playoff schedule to have teams play as many as three games in 10 days.

Morial said he talked to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue twice Monday, and "he indicated they were very close" to a deal.

"I'm 99 percent certain that the Super Bowl will stay in New Orleans," Morial said. "There are still details that are to be worked out, but my feeling is very good about this situation."

A switch with the auto dealers involves arrangements with hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of delegates, all of whom have reservations and schedules in place.

Sunday, Tagliabue said Giants Stadium in New Jersey was under consideration for the title game as a way to help New York recover from the attacks. The NFL also was considering Los Angeles, Tampa and Miami.

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