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| Rose Bowl Stadium, 1934 |
The
almost 90-year old Rose Bowl is going through the financial ringer while poor
oversight by the Rose Bowl Operating Company ("RBOC") , plagues renovation costs
for a budget heading towards the $200M mark. The answer seems to be with inviting the National Football League ("NFL") to temporarily hold 13
games per year for 5 years at the Rose Bowl while a franchise is set up at
Farmers Field in downtown Los Angeles.
The
Pasadena City Council voted 7-1 to approve amending the Public Lands Ordinance,
allowing the NFL to consider the Rose Bowl a temporary home, as well as, the
council certifying the Final Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”).
Now,
let's make this clear, I am a big NFL fan though without calling allegiance to
any one particular team, I do have many players I follow throughout their
careers. There is nothing like
going to a game and losing your voice after cheering and ruckus. The electricity of the crowd can get
anyone involved, including the novice.
I love football.
Renovations:
3rd Down and 42M:
The RBOC is reviewing its Rose Bowl renovation project,
which started in January 2011 with a budget of $152,000,000 and now has now
reached the $194,000,000, reports the Los Angeles Times. You do the math. It’s a $42 million overage the
community is now straddled by, unless the NFL can save the day.
It seems the 3-person committee overseeing the costs
related to the project including
Pasadena District 5 Councilman and RBOC Chairman, Victor Gordo and
Pasadena District 7 RBOC committee member, Paul Arevalo need to do similar math.
How does a board in charge of oversight of the Rose Bowl renovation
costs get to the point where they are now having to review their original
ill-conceived plans and budgets?
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| Pasadena District Map |
Back
in October, Arevalo told the board,
"At this point, we're looking at working with some world-class
firms that have significant experience in stadium renovations and they're going
to (offer) a kind of bird's eye perspective on the project." To have a project get this out of
control in such a short period of time is nuts. Not only are there cost overages, but now litigation is
mounting, both of which are very familiar to Arevalo, as his day job is the
City Manager for West Hollywood where legal costs for the city continue to
climb yearly due to poor management and counsel oversight.
Player’s
Strike and Management Lockout:
The
latest in events plaguing the RBOC is it has not been able to court the right
bids for its Rose Bowl Renovation and Improvement Project, as they had to reject
the recent offers for Phase 3A Field Level Construction. All bids were 1-3M above
the RBOC's estimate of $4,500,000.
The RBOC was also recommended to reject the Earthwork /
Site Storm work / Asphalt Phase 3A improvements as all three bids were grossly
over the estimated $310,000.
They did move into contract with Phase 3A Concourse
Structures for the amount of $3,450,700 with KAR Construction, Ontario, CA
attached to do the work. Oddly,
the RBOC approves this when the estimated budget was for only $2,242,000. Who is running the show over there
because following a budget isn’t too difficult if created with realistic
guidelines? Decisions are becoming
alarmingly arbitrary by the RBOC committee.
The
contractors who cannot land a contract with the city are equally frustrated
with the RBOC while residents worry about Sunday NFL fans creating noise
pollution and congestion to a park-like area of Pasadena, as the city tries to
solve the financial stress of the Rose Bowl renovations. If the RBOC were a business,
people would be fired. The city
should act on the same impulse and investigate why such gross differences in
budget versus actual totals for the renovation project.
“Band-Aid”
Solutions for Losing Team:
The answer the RBOC has for Pasadena at the moment through their recent review costing $400,000, is to
increase the current ordinance to large events from 12 events per year to 25 or
more events per year.
Daniel S.Barrett of the Barrett Sports Group, LLC ("BSG"), Manhattan Beach,
brought in to review the NFL plan, estimates Pasadena could generate income of
$5M-10M if an NFL deal was struck.
Gordo sees a tremendous economic engine for the city of
Pasadena and surrounding area.
"Any deal would have to be respectful of surrounding park land.
This is a stadium in the middle of a park," Gordo said. "Any deal
would have to be respectful of the surrounding neighborhood. This is a stadium
in the middle of a neighborhood."
Gordo then goes on to state, "Pasadena must position itself to
negotiate with a team." It's
economics, folks. Plain and
simple, how can we make several tens of millions of dollars in a few short
years?
The
city of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Stadium will host an NFL team for up to five
years:
- if the City of Los
Angeles signs an NFL team to a contract
- if Farmers Field in
downtown Los Angeles gets approved and built
- if Pasadena residents
in nearby neighborhoods do not protest the added traffic and noise
- if at the required
second reading of the EIR on December 3, the council votes to finalize
action
- if an NFL team signs
a contract with Pasadena to use the stadium in the interim between coming
to Los Angeles and the completion of a stadium in Los Angeles.
The
December 3, 2012 second reading of the EIR will be very important evening for
neighbors and residents to attend the Council Meeting to voice their opinions
about the EIR and impacts to the city both positive and negative.
Sadly,
both Gordo and Arevalo are looking for Band-Aid solutions for a bigger problem
seen here with the Rose Bowl’s financial mess mounting and the community is just beginning to see true mismanagement at its finest. A deal with the NFL would surely take the pressure off of
the 3-person committee and settling the overages incurred with the
project. But, the question is
whether or not those responsible should continue on the project or be
removed?
With Gordo and Arevalo
rubbing elbows with many developers around town, one would think they had the
system covered and the community protected from escalating costs. We would be wrong to assume. This is not the case. Now, “The Band-Aid” has to be used out
of the coach's playbook. The city deserves
more community-minded commitment and financially conscious representatives than Arevalo and Gordo.
23-Skidoo
- EIR Alternative #2:
Within
the draft Environmental Impact Report ("EIR"), there is mention of a Reduced
Attendance Alternative indicating if a temporary use of the Rose Bowl Stadium
by an NFL team, Alternative #2 would limit the attendance at the Rose Bowl to
50,000 fans per NFL event. The
stadium could hold an estimated 88,000 fans. Due to the adjustment of 38,000 fans, the EIR suggests this
approach would not be feasible due attendance the NFL could find
elsewhere.
This
opinion by BRG suggests the average of 67,270 of all NFL stadium attendance is
a far cry from the Alternative #2 condition of only 50,000 attendees. Just to give you an idea, Oakland's
attendance is on average of 50,000 per NFL game. They seem to be doing just fine. It's the RBOC who want more attendees. More attendees equal more money! Why not scare people into believing
"Alternative #2" would never work?
Alternative
#2 of the draft EIR was a very sound and doable situation for a temporary
stadium for the NFL, if the NFL chooses to use the facility, at all. There are many better-suited stadiums
around town with better infrastructures to accommodate a temporary NFL stadium
than the Rose Bowl. The NFL just
presents an easy way out for the Rose Bowl Operating Company of a very bad
financial state they are experiencing. Sometimes the modest approach is better in the end.
"Do-Overs"
Not Allowed:
If
only the NFL could act in the same manner as the RBOC and add 'Do-Overs"
to the mix. What a lively event
those games would be. In turn, the
RBOC should adopt a better approach to its oversight and start to manage the
Rose Bowl with integrity and without sloppy management. The board itself should be under review
and all fired! The city should
clean house and revamp a troubled board.
Economic trends are always shifting. Why is it the RBOC does not shift with the times before it's
too late?
Ultimately, the
residents and people of the community surrounding the Rose Bowl lose this
financial game. This is for sure. If the NFL had to chose between the Rose Bowl or the Los Angeles Coliseum, at Exposition Park, the new home of space shuttle Endeavor, I would put my money on the Coliseum. Even though the LA Coliseum Commission is no better that the RBOC, and equally corrupt, downtown Los Angeles has better infrastructure for the 93,600 fans the Olympic stadium could accommodate, along with MTA alternatives.
At the end of the day, it is plain and simple. The Rose Bowl Operating Company is a mismanaged mess. Why would the NFL chose to settle for less in Pasadena when the obvious choice for any temporary accommodation for the NFL is the Los Angeles Coliseum? After all, I am a USC fan.
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