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After seven hours of intense questioning by county commissioners Thursday, proponents of new Detroit stadiums for the Lions and Tigers won support for a referendum on a tourism tax that's vital to the deal.

Overcoming opposition from the board's three Republicans, the 15-member commission agreed to put the hotel room and car rental tax question on Nov. 5 ballots. Commission members also approved a contract between Detroit, the county and the teams and created a stadium authority that will buy land on the Woodward Avenue site opposite the Fox Theatre.

In addition, they formalized letters of commitment from the Tigers and the Lions adopting minority participation goals in construction and operation of the stadiums. The teams agreed to try to give 30 percent of contracts and jobs to women and minority group members.

Turning to the job ahead, Deputy County Executive Michael Duggan said winning voter support will be "a long, hard campaign." But a Detroit News poll showed Thursday that Duggan might have an easier time, with 58 percent of respondents supporting the tax.

Most of the county commission's questions focused on whether the taxes -- 2 percent on rental cars and 1 percent on hotel rooms -- would generate enough money to repay $80 million in bond debt over 30 years.

Relying on an informal financial analysis, Commissioner William O'Neil, D-Allen Park, challenged the stadium advocates -- who included representatives of Wayne County Executive Edward McNamara, Mayor Dennis Archer, his legal staff and the Tigers.

In the end, the stadium team proved it had done its homework.

Duggan led the drive. He convinced commissioners that by using conservative projections for car rental fees and a 2-percent growth projection for room and car rentals, taxpayers would not be asked to foot the bill.

Commissioner Kay Beard asked what would happen if the economy took a downturn. Duggan, calculating on the fly, shot back his reply: a 10-percent drop in tourist trade "would cost each Wayne County resident about 25 cents a year."

Not a bad risk for $505 million in new sports facilities, the commissioners decided.

Thursday's pressure was amplified because failure to approve the ballot question then could have kept it off the fall ballot and because the agreement calls for county approval by Tuesday.

Many board members were hostile because they didn't get a peek at the deal until one day earlier.

Commissioner Edna Bell told Duggan: "You guys ate, slept and lived with this deal for days. You are intimately familiar with it. We want to be familiar with it, too."

Duggan warned that any efforts to modify the agreement substantially would wreck it. "This commission is the last step," he said.

"It is almost impossible to describe the difficulty in getting a four-party agreement in the first place," he said.

The board also considered postponing a vote on creating the contract -- called a memorandum of understanding -- and creation of a stadium authority. Again, Duggan swayed them with dire warnings.

"That authority has one purpose and one purpose only," he said. "It must go out and acquire the land. The Lions and the Tigers expect us to hit the ground running. If we screw around, we're going to blow it."

Hurdles include purchasing the land within budget limits, and bridging a $50-million funding gap with investments from the corporate community.

Archer's chief of staff said informal business commitments are already in hand.

"The support is broad and it's deep," said Freman Hendrix. "With the commitment of Ed McNamara and Dennis Archer to reach out to the corporate community, this deal is going to go forward."