NFL refs ratify 8-year deal

Texas: National Football League Referees Association members voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to approve a new eight-year deal with the league to officially end a lockout that began in June. The union’s executive committee struck a deal with the NFL on Wednesday night, about 48 hours after a botched call by replacement referees on the game’s final play denied Green Bay what should have been a victory at Seattle. US President Barack Obama was among those who called for an end to the dispute after that blunder and negotiations sped to a finish in time for regular referees to officiate Baltimore’s home victory over Cleveland on Thursday. Money issues prompted the shutdown and led to the league pulling replacement referees from the high school and college ranks, but the newcomers struggled to cope with the increased speed and physicality of the professional level. Spectators gave the regular referees a standing ovation when they first walked onto the field for the game in Baltimore, although it was less than four minutes into the game before a call against the home side brought a chorus of boos from the same group. The NFL plans to pay 112 replacement officials $3,000 to $3,500 for the games they would have worked this weekend, even though the regular referees will be back at work in every NFL stadium. Los Angeles OKs $ 1.2 billion football stadium Meantime, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday approved a $1.2 billion plan to build a downtown football stadium, moving America’s second most populous city closer than it’s been in nearly two decades to having a professional football team. Council members voted unanimously in favor of the Anschutz Entertainment Group’s proposal to erect the 72,000-seat stadium in the city’s downtown core. It will be named “Farmer’s Field.” AEG, controlled by billionaire Phil Anschutz, is up for sale but an agreement with the city will require its new owners to take up the stadium project. Hundreds of football fans in the yellow-and-blue jerseys of the departed Los Angeles Rams football team, ushers from sports arena Staples Center sporting “Farmers Field” T-shirts, and even carpenters’ union members turned up at Friday’s vote, jamming the meeting room and spilling into the hallways outside. NBA Hall of Fame basketball player and local celebrity Kareem Abdul-Jabbar arrived to raucous applause. AEG executives say they plan to lure a National Football League team to anchor the new stadium. The St. Louis Rams and Oakland Raiders are among teams expected to be contacted. “As we proved to the Los Angeles Lakers and the Kings, if you build a great home they will come, and they will build championships,” said AEG president Tim Leiweke. “We’re making a statement to the NFL: L.A. is now open for business.” The city has been without professional football since 1994, when the Rams, then playing in nearby Anaheim, as well as the Raiders, both left. Business and labor groups testified in favor of a plan that could create from 20,000 to 30,000 jobs and generate business downtown. Critics protested about traffic congestion and costs to the city. Biotech entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong — who sat in the front row of the meeting room on Friday with Leiweke — said he was interested in buying AEG and owning an NFL team. L.A.’s richest man, whose wealth is estimated at more than $7 billion, said he will use AEG’s sports teams and its concert touring business to help promote healthy lifestyles to youth. AEG’s construction proposal involves the issuance of $314.6 million in bonds, backed by taxes, lease agreements and other revenue sources. No direct public funding will be involved, council members said in approving the plan.