Tagliabue hinted it was possible Houston could improve its position with the NFL if the Oilers were allowed to leave their Astrodome lease early. Eckels, and Lanier in particular, have insisted the Oilers fulfill the terms of the lease. Tagliabue's appearance in Houston was requested by Gramm, who hailed the session as a first step in quickly returning the NFL to Houston. There have been no specifics, however, about how to pay for the projects. Tagliabue has said the Astrodome in its current form would be unacceptable for an NFL team and in his comments Wednesday appeared to favor a new stadium rather than an Astrodome overhaul.
New technologies have to be looked at both in terms of domes and open-air stadiums.
That can be done quickly and we can draw on the experience of other parts of the country. The participants were optimistic that could be done within six years. I don't think we have to wait a long period of time in order to bring a new team to Houston. The result of Wednesday's meetings was to set up a series of follow-up meetings in the next several weeks. Lanier, an outspoken critic of Tagliabue and the NFL, called Wednesday's session valuable and non-confrontational.