Pens owner talks with Vegas mayor
PITTSBURGH — One of the owners of the Pittsburgh Penguins met with the mayor of Las Vegas on Wednesday to discuss possibly moving the team there.
Ron Burkle, who lives in Los Angeles, led a delegation in talks with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman, according to Tom McMillan, a team spokesman.
Meanwhile, Burkle and co-owner Mario Lemieux were preparing to meet with state, Allegheny County and Pittsburgh officials today in Philadelphia to try to resolve differences over plans for a new arena.
Elena Owens, a spokeswoman for Goodman, confirmed the meeting with Penguins officials and said "they had a very pleasant conversation." She declined to elaborate.
The Penguins issued a letter Monday saying the team planned to actively pursue relocation. It blamed government officials for failing to reach a deal to build a new arena for the National Hockey League team.
The team has been contacted in recent days by officials from Houston and the Los Angeles-based Anschutz Entertainment Group, or AEG, which is developing a new arena in Kansas City and with whom Penguins owners have met previously.
Meetings have not yet been arranged with Houston or AEG.
Gov. Ed Rendell said Wednesday he was still optimistic the team would remain in Pittsburgh.
A day earlier, Rendell's office said in a statement that "the governor believes we have put an exceptionally attractive offer on the table." He later told reporters officials would ask the NHL to intervene if the team did not accept the deal.
On Tuesday, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato said he was shocked by the letter issued by the team Monday.
In the letter, Lemieux and Burkle said negotiations had stalled, even though the team agreed to pay $120 million over 30 years toward a new $290 million arena and to cover any cost overruns.
Onorato said he believed that if officials and team owners resume negotiations immediately, "we can find out what triggered that letter, resolve it, and close this deal."
The Penguins' lease at 46-year-old Mellon Arena, the oldest facility in the league, expires June 30. The Penguins have said repeatedly they may move, or sell the team to a buyer who would move them, if no arena deal is in place by then.
Officials in Kansas City have offered the Penguins free rent and half of all revenues if they agree to play in the soon-to-be-completed $262 million Sprint Center.
Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said it is in the team's best interest to stay in Pittsburgh and that a deal can be reached despite the frustrations with negotiations so far.
