New details emerge on amended Liberty Stadium deal between Memphis, City Council | Sources
The City of Memphis and University of Memphis are working on an amended letter of intent that will resolve some City Council concerns about the deal that would fund renovations of Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium and transfer ownership of the stadium from the city to the university, multiple people familiar with the negotiations told the Commercial Appeal on Monday.
The new agreement would help clear the way for City Council to approve the overall stadium deal at Tuesday's meeting.
City Council is set to vote Tuesday afternoon on a deal that would formally allocate $120 million to the University of Memphis for Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium renovations. The vote was postponed at the Dec. 5 council meeting after a separate resolution from Councilman JB Smiley Jr. caused a lengthy discussion among councilors about the overall deal, which would transfer ownership of the stadium to the University of Memphis Auxiliary Services Foundation (ASF).
The original resolution to allocate $120 million for stadium renovations was introduced after months of discussions among the city, university and Memphis Grizzlies. Officials were trying to decide how to divide $350 million from the state for various renovation projects in the city. A breakthrough came when FedEx founder and chairman Fred Smith and his family announced they would donate $50 million for stadium renovations. The university announced it would try to get $50 million through fundraisers, giving it the total $220 million it wants to renovate the stadium.
But Smiley's resolution called for the ASF to add a city appointee to its board. The university said the foundation's bylaws would make that impossible. The council's budget committee had a lengthy discussion about the overall deal and the future of the Memphis Grizzlies in the city.
The other part of the stadium deal is a renovation of FedExForum, where the Grizzlies and the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team play home games. Councilman Chase Carlisle said at the Dec. 5 meeting that city officials were told FedExForum renovations would cost $550 million. There would be $230 million left from the state allocation if the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium deal goes through.
On Tuesday's meeting agenda is a letter of intent, dated Dec. 4, that lays out the terms of the agreement for the transfer of the stadium. But that letter likely will be amended following conversations that have gone on since the Dec. 5 City Council meeting and continued into Monday. The updated LOI will include at least three new stipulations, according to the sources.
A new committee that will meet to discuss the progress of the stadium renovation and possibly continue after it's completed. This would give the city some say in the goings-on at the stadium without adding the board seat called for in Smiley's resolution.
New multiyear agreements with the Southern Heritage Classic and AutoZone Liberty Bowl, both of which take place at the stadium.
A clause that would allow the city to buy back the stadium for $1 if the university ever wanted to sell it. The original LOI would have given the city the ability to match any offer the university received. This was discussed by multiple city councilors during the committee meeting on Dec. 5.
Both Smiley's resolution regarding the board seat and the overall resolution that would allocate the money are scheduled to be discussed during the City Council meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis, university near amended deal on Liberty Stadium funding, ownership
