Falcons had own scandal

Mogul pulls out of Vegas stadium deal

ATLANTA — The “Deflategate” scandal has hovered over the Patriots for parts of three seasons, thanks to appeals of Tom Brady’s four-game suspension, finally served at the beginning of this season.

New England’s Super Bowl opponents had their own scandal — but it was a blip on the news radar that most fans long forgot.

The Atlanta Falcons were handed a much-less publicized punishment for pumping fake noise into home games during the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The Falcons’ “Inflategate” got less attention, in large part because owner Arthur Blank acknowledged the team’s rules violation even before the NFL released its official findings in 2015. Blank never fought the punishment.

The Patriots’ scandal was a long-running soap opera that grabbed headlines for two years, thanks to a long investigation, appeals and a court fight. The Falcons’ scandal was embarrassing to Blank and the team, but the pain — and the punishment from the league — was lessened by the team’s cooperation.

The Falcons were fined $350,000 and stripped of a 2016 fifth-round draft pick by the league on March 30, 2015, almost two months after Blank said “I think what we’ve done in 2013 and 2014 was wrong.” Also, team president Rich McKay was suspended from the league’s Competition Committee for three months.

In announcing the punishment, the league said Blank and McKay were not aware artificial crowd noise was being used by a marketing executive to create an unfair competitive advantage. The league said McKay, as the executive overseeing game operations, bore some responsibility.

The NFL said the Falcons cooperated fully in the investigation.

Blank said that it was his choice in 2015 was to accept responsibility and move on.

“Clearly there was a breakdown in our organization in terms of following what we know is league rules and in terms of competitive balance for all the right reasons,” Blank said.

RAIDERS: Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson pulled out of a deal Monday to build a $1.9 billion domed stadium for the Oakland Raiders in Las Vegas.

The move comes on the heels of a team proposal to pay $1 a year in rent and operate the stadium, and it deprives the project of a chief financial backer as officials seek to bring professional football to Las Vegas for the first time.

Adelson played an instrumental role in the effort to lure the Raiders, which eventually grew into a $750 million commitment of taxpayer money to the deal.

He and his family had pledged $650 million — an amount the team will have to seek from other sources. The Raiders have promised $500 million.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval’s office said the lease agreement submitted last week would have the Raiders shoulder $1.15 billion of the cost of the stadium.

In a statement, the Raiders acknowledged Adelson’s involvement in the project over the past year and promised to make good on owner Mark Davis’ vow to move to Las Vegas.

Adelson’s withdrawal means the Raiders will go forward with a decision pending from NFL owners who must approve the move.

It also means the team won’t have to ask team owners to waive a rule prohibiting casino operators from having ownership roles in teams.

The lease proposal would have the Raiders operate the 65,000-seat stadium that would be built at a site yet to be decided.

In Adelson’s terse statement, the chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp. declared that he had been shut out of talks that led to the lease document presented to the Clark County Stadium Authority.

“We were not only excluded from the proposed agreement,” Adelson said, “we weren’t even aware of its existence.”

Sands owns the Venetian and Palazzo resorts and a convention center on the Las Vegas Strip.

“It’s clear the Raiders have decided their path for moving to Las Vegas does not include the Adelson family,” Adelson’s statement said. “So, regrettably, we will no longer be involved in any facet of the stadium discussion.”

HOUSTON: Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says demonstrations during Super Bowl week won’t prevent fans from having a good time.

Turner said Monday that demonstrations like the one Sunday outside Super Bowl headquarters with protesters opposing President Trump’s travel restrictions from some Muslim countries are “about people exercising their constitutional right to voice their opinion.”

Calling Houston “the most diverse city in the country,” Turner noted “we can do that and have good football at the same time.”