The Dallas Cowboys and the city reached an agreement Friday on a five-year deal to return the team's training camp to the Alamodome beginning in 2007, Mayor Phil Hardberger told the San Antonio Express-News.
"It's a done deal," Hardberger said before attending a performance of the San Antonio Symphony at the Majestic Theater with his wife, Linda.
A news conference in San Antonio featuring Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will be held later this month, Hardberger said.
Sources with knowledge of the negotiations said Jones is expected to place a congratulatory call to Hardberger this weekend.
Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple declined comment, saying: "I can't confirm anything at this time."
The pact calls for the city to receive all revenue from parking and concessions and $2 from each ticket sold should the Cowboys scrimmage another NFL team. The parties agreed to split the revenue from suite sales for scrimmages.
The Cowboys, in turn, receive rent-free use of the dome. Hardberger estimated the deal could generate as much as $200,000 a year for the city.
"It will be a lot of fun for us all, and it allows a lot of people who might not be able to purchase a ticket to a regular-season game to see the Cowboys up close," Hardberger said.
Hardberger said the agreement doesn't mean the city has given up its hopes of landing an NFL team, noting the contract includes a clause that allows the city to terminate the deal should another team decide to relocate to San Antonio.
In that instance, the Cowboys must receive notice at least 120 days before the start of camp, the contract states.
"We will continue to pursue the NFL," Hardberger said.
At the same time, the city plans to nurture its relationship with the Cowboys, Hardberger said. With that in mind, the parties agreed to discuss an extension after the 2009 camp.
"It's a good idea for this contract to be five years because it gives us time to look at how things are going," Hardberger said. "Given the vagaries of time and chance, you probably don't want to go beyond five years with the first contract.
"But with that said, I can see this becoming a long-term relationship."
Said Councilman Chip Haass, who aided Hardberger in talks with the Cowboys: "A five-year deal is a significant commitment."
The deal will bring the Cowboys back to San Antonio after what will be a three-year stint in Oxnard, Calif. The team's contract with Oxnard expires after this year's camp, which begins in late July.
The Cowboys trained at the Alamodome in 2002 and 2003, but a scheduling conflict prevented the team from practicing there in 2004.
The Cowboys wanted to return to San Antonio in 2005, but a dispute over Alamodome rent prompted the team to remain in Oxnard.
The city paid the Cowboys $400,000 to train here in 2003. In October of that year, the City Council mandated a $320,000 annual fee for the team to use the dome beginning in 2005.
The Cowboys began considering leaving California after learning of a Los Angeles-based home builder's plans to develop a 20-acre lot used for the team's parking and merchandise sales in Oxnard.
Hardberger initiated talks with the Cowboys last month.
"Everyone walked off (in 2003) slightly peeved at each other, but I found the Cowboys actually cooperative and tickled to resume the relationship, and I certainly share that feeling," Hardberger said.
Said Haass: "It was Mayor Hardberger's idea to open up a dialogue with the Cowboys. That says a lot about his leadership because this has been a kind of political hot potato. In the past, the city was strapped with a rather fiscally poor deal."
torsborn@express-news.net
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