CLU Searching for New NFL Tenant

A day after the Dallas Cowboys severed their ties with Cal Lutheran, university President Jerry Miller said that other NFL teams were interested in moving their training camps to the Thousand Oaks school and that the university actively would seek another NFL tenant.

“There have been indications that there are other teams who are interested,” Miller said, “but there hasn’t been any direct contact yet.”

Miller declined to name teams that had expressed interest in training at Cal Lutheran.

The Cowboys, who held their preseason training camp at Cal Lutheran for the past 27 summers, ended their relationship with the university Tuesday, citing economic and geographical reasons.

Although the Cowboys’ previous management had signed a contract with Cal Lutheran through the summer of 1991, the university does not expect to take legal action.

“We’ll work together (with the Cowboys) on a settlement,” Miller said. “I’m confident that we can work something out that should keep us from getting involved in any in-court litigations.”

At a press conference in Irving, Tex., on Wednesday, Cowboy owner Jerry Jones indicated that the team would pay for any financial loss suffered by Cal Lutheran because of the relocation of camp to Austin, Tex.

CLU administrator Dennis Gillette did not have records of the school’s profits from the Cowboys’ stay, but the Thousand Oaks Chamber of Commerce conducted a study in 1983 that found that $250,000 flowed into the city annually as a result of Dallas’ six-week training camp.

“I guess that ($250,000 figure) could be increased by at least 10% to 15% now,” Gillette said.

Cal Lutheran football Coach Bob Shoup said that the Cowboys would be missed in Thousand Oaks but not financially.

“There are a number of different organizations that would like to be here at Cal Lutheran not related to sports,” Shoup said. “I don’t think we’ll suffer filling the dorms and filling summer activities.

“The dollars that the Cowboys pay to Cal Lutheran is certainly consistent with what we’d charge any other group.”

Simi Valley radio station KWNK will continue to carry Cowboy games, according to General Manager Manny Cabranes.