clarinews@clarinet.com (BILL STEWART) (02/01/90)
PORTLAND, Ore. (UPI) -- The post-Super Bowl slaughter Denver Broncos still are not as much of an underdog as the city of Portland's effort to lure an NFL franchise by building a domed stadium. Still, the leaders of that tenuous campaign expressed optimism Wednesday that their dreams of pro football in Portland could be realized by the turn of the century -- if a lot of things fall into place. U.S. Bancorp Chairman Roger Breezley and Portland attorney Ted Runstein, chairman of the Metropolitan Exposition and Recreation Commission, are spearheading a move to make Portland the home of an NFL expansion franchise. They are well aware of the obstacles in their path but still are pressing on. The two said Wednesday they have met with NFL officials and that Portland stands an excellent chance of being granted a pro football team -- provided the city can build a domed stadium. ``Unofficially from the NFL, if we had a facility on the drawing board, Portland would likely get a franchise,'' Runstein said. However, Jim Heffernan, the league's director of public relations, said NFL officials are not in a position to make such a guarantee. Heffernan said no definite plans have been made for the league's expansion. However, he added that officials have discussed the possibility of adding perhaps as many as four more teams before the year 2000. Even if Portland did build a stadium, Heffernan said the city would be in competition with the likes of Memphis, St. Louis, Baltimore, Oakland, Sacramento, Jacksonville, Florida and the Carolinas. ``It's very early in the process for the Portland people,'' Heffernan said. Still, the Portland group hardly seems worried. ``We're going to get it done,'' Breezley said. ``Portland is the largest city in the United States not to have an NFL franchise,'' Runstein said. Breezley said he believes the league will be less sympathetic toward proposals from St. Louis, Baltimore and Oakland, since those cities lost NFL franchises during the 1980s. However, it probably should be noted those cities did not voluntarily lose their teams. Instead, the owners decided to move to what they considered greener pastures. Heffernan said Memphis officials have been standing in line for a franchise for 10 years and constantly have lobbied the league's executives and owners at annual conventions. It appears either Sacramento or Oakland will land the Raiders, now that team owner Al Davis seems ready to leave Los Angeles. That would eliminate one of those cities from consideration for an expansion franchise. Breezley and Runstein said league officials have told them the NFL will add two teams in 1992 and another pair in 1994. Breezley said Wednesday that Portland could not have a stadium ready by 1992, leaving 1994 as their last chance for perhaps another 15 or 20 years. The NFL last expanded in 1976, when Seattle and Tampa Bay joined the league after paying $16 million in franchise fees. Heffernan would not venture a guess what a franchise would cost in another two years, much less four. But he noted several established teams currently are valued at $100 million or more. Breezley said a domed stadium would cost between $150 million and $200 million. A domed stadium is the only option, Breezley said, because the group intends to eventually host the Super Bowl. He said league officials would not likely grant the Super Bowl to a cool-weather city like Portland if its team played in an open-air stadium. Any proposal to build such a facility in Portland likely would have to include public funding, adding an even greater burden to Oregon's property taxes, already among the nation's highest. Many Oregonians have said in the past they wouldn't be willing to help pay for a stadium. A proposal to build a domed stadium at Delta Park in north Portland was defeated by voters in the mid-'60s.