Stadium Issue Plodding Along

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Less than a year ago, when NFL owners put the Los Angeles situation near the top of their to-do list, they pointed to these league meetings as being very important.

But now, the issue is plodding along in that familiar slow lane.

“I don’t think the league or the committee that’s dealing with the situation is in position to move it forward at any significant level,” said Pat Bowlen, owner of the Denver Broncos. “I just don’t think we’re there yet. But, having said that, I think that there’s certainly light on the horizon here. There’s certainly hope, and pretty good hope, that a stadium can get done in the Los Angeles basin.”

The three options being considered by the league are remodeling the Rose Bowl or Coliseum, or starting from scratch on a toxic landfill in Carson. Neil Glatt, the NFL’s vice president of strategic planning, is expected to update the owners on the three sites this week, probably Wednesday. The meetings, which started Sunday, also drew representatives from the Rose Bowl and Coliseum contingents, although they won’t be making formal presentations to the owners.

Roger Goodell, the league’s chief operating officer and executive in charge of stadium issues, was in L.A. recently working on the difficult task of bringing a team back to the nation’s second-largest market for the first time since the Raiders and Rams left after the 1994 season.

“I don’t think [we’re] hot or cold on any one option,” said New England Patriot owner Robert Kraft, a member of the league’s L.A. working group.

The main issue at the meetings is the future of the NFL Trust, which expires Wednesday but probably will be extended in the form of a “master agreement” for the next 15 years. The trust is the document that governs revenue sharing in regard to the league’s licensing and sponsorship business.

Once again, owners will consider making instant replay a permanent fixture in the rule book, although it’s most likely that the officiating tool will be extended for a few seasons. Replay was first implemented for the 1986 season, voted out in 1992, then brought back in 1999 in its current form, with the coaches’ challenge system.

The owners will discuss negotiations for new television contracts, which expire after the 2005 season, and extending the collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Assn., which is up after the 2007 season.

Likely to be approved is a 15-yard penalty for players who go over the top with their celebrations. The new penalty policy has been recommended unanimously by the league’s competition committee.

“Don’t call us the no fun league,” Atlanta General Manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the league’s competition committee, said last week during a conference call.

“This has nothing to do with the Lambeau leap, the spike, the sack dance or throwing the ball over the goal post. But the demonstrations are becoming more sophisticated and more pre-planned than they’ve ever been. That’s why we focused on a penalty instead of just a fine.”