Arthur Smith's Hollywood Odyssey

[Chapter 580: Time to End the Struggle]

At the NFL headquarters in New York City, with the playoffs concluded, the Super Bowl was set to feature the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots going against the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Arthur's team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, hadn't even made it into the NFC playoffs!

This meeting was called to discuss the Adams family's Houston Oilers aiming to relocate to Nashville, Tennessee. Last year, Art Modell had moved the Cleveland Browns from Ohio to Maryland, but he wasn't allowed to take the Browns' name, which led to the team being renamed the Baltimore Ravens instead.

Arthur sat next to Lamar Hunt, the owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, while Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, occupied the seat on the other side.

"It seems the Houston Oilers haven't been drawing much of a crowd," Arthur teased.

Jerry Jones nodded in agreement. "The fan base is cooling off, but the main issue is that they're not getting any response from the city government for a new stadium. Arthur, you're the richest man in the league; a new stadium is no problem for you, but for others, it's a big deal," Jerry continued.

Everyone knew Arthur was building a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at what would be known as Raymond James Stadium.

Arthur chuckled, "Everyone is holding onto their shares and not making any moves. What can we do? There are so many wealthy people wanting to own NFL teams."

The NFL mandated that teams could only be privately owned and not run by corporations, which was a significant restriction. Moreover, NFL team owners typically sold their franchises only after they had passed away, often to their relatives or descendants. Now that the Houston Oilers were looking to move, there was really no opposition; the league wouldn't intervene because Houston couldn't keep them. Just look at how the Los Angeles Raiders and Los Angeles Rams left to become the Oakland Raiders and St. Louis Rams.

Arthur later learned from Lamar Hunt that Major League Soccer (MLS) was being formed, intending to hold its first league next year. The main founders were Philip Anschutz and his son Clark Hunt, and there would be ten founding teams.

Naturally, the Los Angeles Galaxy -- all set to become a major influence in the future -- would no longer exist since, at that time, the Galaxy was an NBA team. Philip Anschutz had yet to penetrate the sports scene in Los Angeles.

Arthur already owned teams in three of the four major leagues, so he had little interest in MLS teams. However, he thought that it might be worthwhile to establish a soccer team in Tampa if the opportunity arose.

...

That evening, Arthur ran into Ted Turner at a club in Manhattan. Since Time Warner acquired TBS, Turner seemed to be on the verge of retiring entirely.

"How's life on the farm in Florida, is it pleasant?" Arthur casually asked, noting that Ted had seemingly developed a love for the land, having purchased quite a few ranches and farms.

"Not bad," Ted Turner replied with a smile. "There's really not much else to do anyway; besides sailing, which I love, I've taken to managing the ranches too. My father was a real farmer."

Arthur nodded, downing his whiskey in one gulp. "CNN's becoming increasingly annoying; don't you worry about MSNBC and FNC overtaking CNN in the ratings?"

MSNBC and FNC had launched that year, creating a three-way competition in cable news, with CNN visibly declining in stature.

Ted shrugged, "I can't influence CNN anymore; a lot of the executives at Time Warner are Jewish. I've been completely sidelined within CNN's structure."

"Okay, fine," Arthur replied, "after all, Time Warner will eventually be surpassed by me."

Currently, Galaxy had Marvel, and it was destined to become the leading media conglomerate in the world.

"The fourth Batman movie produced by Warner Bros, Batman & Robin, has finished shooting and is set for a summer release next year. Since Galaxy acquired Marvel, you're not planning to launch a superhero movie as well?" Ted asked.

"I'm a fan of Spider-Man too!" Arthur took a drag from his cigarette. "That's still in the works."

"Batman & Robin switched lead actors, right?" Arthur chuckled. "Val Kilmer and director Joel Schumacher didn't have a great working relationship on Batman Forever before. This time, they're casting an actor from the TV industry to play Batman, aren't they?"

Ted laughed as well, "What about you? Are you optimistic about this film?"

The primary cast of Batman & Robin was quite impressive. The lead, George Clooney, had risen to fame through the medical drama ER. Playing Robin was Chris O'Donnell, who gained recognition from Scent of a Woman. The villain, Arnold Schwarzenegger, starred as Mr. Freeze, with a salary of $25 million setting a new record. Uma Thurman played Poison Ivy, and Alicia Silverstone portrayed Batgirl, a popular idol of American youth at the time.

"Which other film companies can compare to my Galaxy-MGM?" Arthur shook his head. "This year's box office surge owes much to MGM!"

Galaxy's Twister, Independence Day, and Con Air collectively earned about $700 million at the North American box office. This year, even if the North American annual box office didn't reach $6 billion, it wouldn't be far off.

...

In downtown Manhattan, at the MGM building, Arthur flipped through the reports. Primal Fear grossed $56 million in North America, with a global total hitting the 100 million mark after its overseas release.

"Sir, Mr. Bean only made $45 million in North America, but its international box office crossed $200 million," Kate Beckinsale, who starred in Mr. Bean, was keeping a close eye on this film.

Arthur knocked on the table, "Previously, Four Weddings and a Funeral did exceptionally well. Now with the blockbuster success of Mr. Bean, producer Richard Curtis truly has some serious talent!"

Arthur quickly thought of the British romantic comedy Notting Hill. Perhaps he could share the idea with Richard Curtis, letting him adapt it into a screenplay before proceeding to production.

Suddenly, the phone on Arthur's desk rang.

Upon answering, he frowned and replied curtly, "Alright, I got it!"

Dr. Dre, head of Death Row Records, had encountered some thugs in Compton and was shot twice. Thankfully, he was only injured and hospitalized with no life-threatening danger.

Now, West Coast rappers led by Snoop Dogg were preparing for a peace dialogue with East Coast rappers, signaling that the struggle should finally come to an end.

*****

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