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Decision on Sarpy County ballpark should come by March

Deadlines of all sorts are colliding as Sarpy County officials work to put together a funding plan for a new Omaha Royals ballpark, an arena and possibly horse racing.
Deadlines of all sorts are colliding as Sarpy County officials work to put together a funding plan for a new Omaha Royals ballpark, an arena and possibly horse racing.

The biggest deadline, of course, is the expiration of a exclusive-negotiating period between the county and the O-Royals, which expires on March 15. There have been talks between the county and Royals officials, but there’s been nothing firm presented by either side.

Also, this seems to be a development that changes every day. The original plan was for an O-Royals ballpark. Then the plan expanded to include a new arena that could possible house the USHL’s Omaha Lancers, but yesterday the Lancers announced a  move to Omaha’s Civic Auditotium for next season, which would cut out any market need for a new arena in Sarpy County. (And before anyone suggests another hockey team could play in Sarpy County, let the lesson of the failed Ak-Sar-Ben Knights teach us there’s not room for two hockey teams in Omaha.) Now lead negotiator Kermit Brashear has been outed as chatting with state officials about a horseracing track possibly being part of the mix. And, of course, the legislature must address the issue of changes to the tax code to allow tax-increment financing to fund any of it.

So that’s a lot going on. Whether or not all the pieces can be put together by March 15 remains to be seen.