March 25 (Bloomberg) -- The New York Jets will probably raise the $800 million they need to build a stadium in Manhattan through a loan from the National Football League and the sale of the stadium's name, said Jay Cross, the team's president.

The stadium will be the most expensive ever built by a U.S. professional sports team, and will require debt payments in excess of $40 million a year for 30 years, Cross said in a Feb. 23 interview. Cross declined to comment yesterday on the project.

The proposed plan for the 75,000-seat, $1.4 billion stadium project built over the railroad yards west of Pennsylvania Station will be announced later today, the New York Times reported citing city and state officials. Jennifer Falk, a spokeswoman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, declined to comment.

``This is a very sexy project -- it's New York on a grand scale,'' said John Moag, who negotiated the Cleveland Browns' relocation to Baltimore in 1996 and has been hired to lure an NFL team to California.

The city and state will pay a combined $600 million toward the project, Newsday reported citing people it didn't identify. The stadium would have a retractable roof so it can be used year- round as part of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

Bloomberg and New York Governor George Pataki are scheduled to attend a press conference at the Javits Center today at 11 a.m. Bloomberg is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent of Bloomberg LP.

Possible Record

Selling naming rights to the stadium would help the Jets finance the project and might set an NFL record, said E.J. Narcise, co-founder of Team Services LLC, a Bethesda, Maryland, marketing company that consults with sports franchises. He said financial services and wireless companies probably top the list of potential sponsors.

``It's going to be a megadeal,'' said Narcise, who negotiated M&T Bank Corp.'s naming rights agreement with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens last year. ``Who wouldn't be interested in owning naming rights to a brand new stadium in Manhattan? The floor would be $7 million, but for the right company, it could exceed $10 million a year.''

Reliant Energy Inc. is paying an average of $10 million a year over 30 years to have its name on four buildings in Houston: the Texans' football stadium, the Astrodome, and two other buildings that can be used for auto shows and other events.

Other Deals

In Philadelphia, Lincoln National Corp. is paying an average of $7 million a year over 20 years to have its name on the Eagles' football field. And in Maryland, FedEx Corp. is paying the Washington Redskins an average of $7.59 million a year over 27 years to name the team's football stadium.

Most naming rights agreements include tickets, suites and other marketing opportunities.

``You could see a bank getting the naming rights, putting three retail branches in the stadium, and having exclusivity for all the ATMs in and around the stadium,'' Narcise said.

Cross, 51, expects the Jets to receive a $150 million loan from the NFL, which gives money to teams building new stadiums. The league's 32 teams replenish the fund by contributing the visitor's share of ticket money.

Eight clubs have borrowed from the program: the Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks.

Seat Licenses

Personal seat licenses might provide another piece of the stadium's financing. The seat licenses are a one-time fee that's paid in addition to the price of a season ticket.

The licenses give a ticket holder the right to trade or sell his seat for a period of time -- usually between 20 and 30 years. The Jets haven't decided whether to sell them or not, Cross said.

Of the stadium's 75,000 seats, about 8,000 to 11,000 will be club seats with a private dinning and bar area and waiter service. Those are the tickets most likely to require the one- time fee, said Max Muhleman, president of IMG/Muhleman Marketing in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Muhleman said seat licenses range from $1,000 to $10,000 a seat on average, and could raise $70 million to $100 million for a team in a market like New York.

When the Bears renovated Soldier Field in Chicago, the team sold 27,000 licenses ranging from $765 to $10,000 a seat. It raised $50 million toward the team's cost of stadium construction, the team said.

In Philadelphia, where the Eagles priced their seat licenses between $1,530 and $3,145, the team sold 29,000, raising about $60 million for stadium construction, the team said.

Neither the Jets nor the Giants have ever sold seat licenses, the NFL said.

Sponsorship Revenue

Tickets, luxury suites and corporate sponsorship will provide the Jets with a revenue increase over what they are currently earning as a tenant at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The Jets generated $53.4 million in ticket revenue and $3.5 million in concession revenue last season, according to the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, which oversees Giants Stadium and the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

The Jets received 14.5 percent of revenue from the 72 luxury boxes on the mezzanine level and 33.3 percent from the 47 boxes on the South Tower, for a total of $2.6 million. They also get a percent of stadium advertising and sponsorship, which amounted to $765,000.

In the new stadium, the Jets will keep all the revenue from 240 luxury suites as well as all sponsorship and advertising revenue.

Jim Andrews, editorial director at IEG Sponsorship Report in Chicago, said the team's total sponsorship revenue would probably double to about $15 million if it had moved to New York this year.

``It's not about geography,'' Andrews said. ``It's because they would have total control of the facility and be able to package their sponsorships in a way that creates greater value.''

To contact the reporter of this story: Curtis Eichelberger in Princeton at ceichelberge@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 25, 2004 00:36 EST