A quick update in our journey to figure out whether the NFL lockout will cost San Diego taxpayers:
In my last post, the Chargers said they won’t have to pay the city of San Diego rent in a lockout. Next, we’ll we turn our attention to whether that’s positive or negative for the city’s bottom line (it’s not as simple as you might think).
But before I could finish that, I got a response from the city.
The mayor’s spokeswoman, Rachel Laing, said the city isn’t willing to concede yet that the Chargers are correct. She said the City Attorney’s Office is still researching the matter.
Even if it is legal by the contract, it’s an awkward argument for owners to make: We canceled our season, so we can’t pay you rent.
The lease says the Chargers are excused from rent if there is a “force majeure event” — typically defined as an unforeseen occurrence that prevents a party from executing a contract. In this case, the owners have decided to lock out players because the owners want a bigger share of the league’s revenues.
I finally got my hands on the lease that contains the full clause defining a “force majeure event.” It’s interesting to see the other events that a lockout is grouped together with (I’ve bolded my favorite):
“Force Majeure Event” shall mean any of the following events which prevents a party from performing its obligations hereunder: any act of God, strike, lockout, or other industrial disturbance; act of public enemy, blockade, war, insurrection, or riot; epidemic; landslide, earthquake, fire, storm, flood, or washout; title dispute, or other litigation; governmental restraint, either federal or state, civil or military; civil disturbance; or explosion.
It’s not just the Chargers, though. In the comments on my last post, Katheryn Rhodes (who comments as La Playa Heritage) pointed out that the Padres also have “lockout” included in their definition, too. That makes me wonder if it’s something all teams have in their contracts.
While we’re on the topic, the Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins had another column today critical of the NFL that asked this question: “What right do owners have to padlock stadiums that taxpayers helped pay for?”
I’m still working on figuring out what this all means for the city’s bottom line.
You can reach me at andrew.donohue@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.325.0526. Follow me on Twitter: @AndrewDonohue.