Another article:
New home in store for Classic?
By JOE SCHIEFELBEIN
Advocate sportswriter
Could the Bayou Classic be moving to Houston, which calls itself the Bayou City?
Officials from both Grambling and Southern said they have received a substantial offer from Houston and have given New Orleans ? home to the game for 28 years ? until the end of the month to make a counteroffer.
"It?s an attractive enough package that nobody could look the other way," said Ralph Slaughter, Southern University system vice president and Bayou Classic coordinator.
"The schools would like to have the game in Louisiana, but we?d like to see a little respect out of New Orleans and the hotel community."
The current 10-year contract with the Louisiana Superdome expires Saturday with Bayou Classic XVIII, when No. 8 Grambling (8-1, 5-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) plays Southern (7-3, 5-1) at 1 p.m.
Slaughter said the two schools have been talking with officials from Houston for about six to eight months. He said New Orleans has until Nov. 30 to submit its bid. Slaughter said the schools had already given New Orleans an extension from the end of October.
"There?s been some movement, just not where we need to be yet," Slaughter said. "I think some have misinterpreted the fact that two Louisiana schools would never move out of the state. That?s a serious misunderstanding."
New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial estimated the game?s impact as "in the range of $50 million in direct and indirect spending."
Morial later said no one had specifically addressed the issue to him but that he?d be willing to work on a resolution.
The schools want two things. First, more money. Second, better hotel rates for fans.
"We give them a Super Bowl every year," Slaughter said. "For something that brings that kind of impact, we need to get some kind of consideration."
Last year?s game drew 72,000. And a Bayou Classic official news release said this year?s game is expected to draw 200,000 to the city.
Morial said the New Orleans tourism industry used to be stagnant on Thanskgiving weekend, but the Bayou Classic changed that scenario.
"I think the mayor made it clear today how much the city makes. This city used to be a ghost town before the Classic," said Grambling coach Doug Williams, who played in the first Bayou Classic in 1974. "It?s time for the universities to get some of that money.
"I can (see the game in Houston). I?m honest. I think the bottom line is numbers. I won?t even say (what each school brings in), because I think it?s embarrassing when you think of the money being brought into the city."
Each school gets at least $1 million from the game.
The two teams split the ticket sales, after expenses. That total is estimated by Southern Athletic Director Floyd Kerr to be a profit of $600,000-700,000 per school. They also share in revenue from buying television time, then selling commercials, projecting, in 1999, that take to be $100,000 per school.
In addition, the schools split the $500,000 State Farm gives to be the title sponsor as well as revenue from other corporate sponsors.
"(The two schools) are in this thing together," said Kerr, who said he?s not involved in the negotiations, which are handled by Slaughter. "For the two institutions, it?s of paramount importance that we do the right thing."
Slaughter said Houston will help with the two key sticking points: expenses and hotel rooms.
From stadium rental alone, the schools could stand to gain a substantial boost when they split the gate.
Slaughter said renting the Superdome and related costs total around $350,000. He said the schools could secure Houston?s 69,500-seat Reliant Stadium, a retractable-roof venue which opens next season, for $35,000.
More pressing to fans are the hotel rates. Fans have complained for years about hotel rates in New Orleans.
Slaughter said some of the problem has been caused by the 10-year contract which did not have any clauses for hotel rates.
"The hotels kind of went wild," Slaughter said. "It?s outrageous. "Rooms range from $150 to almost $300. ... We made a determination that whatever the contract that a hotel-rate structure has to be a part of the package."
Slaughter said Houston officials have agreed to cap rates at $125.
"It?s a partnership and has to be amicable for all, or we?ll have to start thinking about something else," Kerr said.
"It?s in our best interest to be here, to be home. To talk about leaving is not comfortable. This is a very complex issue. There are a lot of people with a lot at stake."
Black-college football fans are used to playing Classics in faraway cities, even conference games. For instance, Grambling and Prairie View play the State Fair Classic every year in Dallas and Southern and Alabama A&M will play a conference game in Indianapolis? Circle City Classic next season.
Even so, severing emotional ties with New Orleans will be hard to do.
"To a coach, it?s just a ballgame," Southern coach Pete Richardson. "To the people, you realize in a hurry it means more than that. The heart and soul of Grambling and Southern is the Bayou Classic."
Southern has 26 players on its roster from New Orleans. Many of them went to the game as children and dreamed of playing in the game.
Williams said the schools, who rely on the Bayou Classic to help fund much of their athletic programs, should leave emotions out of a business decision.
"Yes, I?d favor (moving the Bayou Classic to Houston). In a heartbeat," Williams said.
"We have to survive, too. We don?t get 91,000 every game like LSU does. We have take the payday we can take that will benefit the universities the most.
"New Orleans is a great place for the game. But New Orleans has to come with a proposal. Houston has one on the table."
