Car Dealers Weighing NFL’s Unconventional Proposal
Officials from the National Automobile Dealers Assn. are again considering moving the date of their annual convention to allow the NFL to keep this season’s Super Bowl in New Orleans.
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue met for an hour Monday with the group’s president, Phil Brady, at NADA headquarters in McLean, Va. They agreed to continue their talks today.
“It’s premature to be pessimistic or optimistic about the outcome,” NADA spokesman David Hyatt said.
“It’s clear that the league has done its due diligence, and now they’re ready to discuss the nitty-gritty details.”
The NFL, which postponed its Week 2 games in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, wants to delay the Jan. 27 Super Bowl a week to allow for a full slate of playoff games.
The NADA’s convention is scheduled for Feb. 2-5, and New Orleans cannot host both events simultaneously.
In case no agreement can be reached with the NADA, the NFL has contacted officials from Pasadena, Tampa and Miami about hosting the game.
“I think it’s very likely that [the Super Bowl] will be Feb. 3 instead of Jan. 27, in one way or another,” Tagliabue said Sunday. “I believe we’ll be able to pick up the week that we’ve lost and play the entire postseason schedule.”
Tagliabue has placed an Oct. 15 deadline on the decision, but “we’ll be working very hard to get those issues resolved this week, if it’s possible--no promises.”
