New Stadiums…They always cure what ails you. For a little while.
Is your favorite sports team consistently finishing at the bottom of their division? Can they not put any fans in the stands? Are you looking to even get a team in the first place? Well my friend, I have your solution. Build a new stadium! It seems to be all the rage these days.
We go first to Las Vegas, where REI Neon has just picked up a 30 day extension to negotiate with the city to bring a sports complex to downtown Las Vegas. Negotiations were seemingly at a stand-still previously, but are now looking up due to the possible inclusion of the Cordish Company, who’s projects include two Hard Rock Cafe casinos in Florida and St. Louis. More info from the Las Vegas Review Journal,
[Las Vegas Mayor, Oscar] Goodman said Cordish representatives have met twice with him and principals from REI Neon, that he had a “very positive conversation” with those involved Thursday afternoon and another meeting is scheduled Tuesday.
“We believe there’s probably going to be an announcement at the meeting of another partner in the deal,” said Scott Adams, the city’s director of business development.
While the two sides seem to still be haggling over money (about $200 million dollars worth of financing are still unaccounted for), things seem to be moving in the right direction. My question is, “What kind of sports team will Las Vegas get?” David Stern seems to have his hands full with his European League and the Seattle Oklahoma City Seattle SuperSonics, so he may be a little too busy to work on moving an NBA team to Vegas…that and he’s afraid that Vegas provides too much of a distraction for his players (David Stern does not want the NBA’s version of Pacman Jones). The other viable “major” sport option is a hockey team. Hockey’s problems have been well documented on this blog already, and I honestly don’t think they could handle another team right now without raising ticket prices to astronomical heights. In short, Vegas will have a new stadium soon. I don’t know who’s going to play in it, but, its always nice to say you have a stadium, right?
In other stadium news it looks like the Marlins 8 year search for a long term home has finally ended. Yesterday, the team and the Miami-Dade County commission reached a tentative agreement for a new stadium. Although there are still some details to work out; namely the formula to determine whether/when county or city security personnel will be used, the Marlins should be playing in their new home by 2011. From MLB.com,
Construction is scheduled to start by November, with the stadium ready for the opening of the 2011 season. The Marlins’ Dolphin Stadium lease, long a problem because the club did not share in parking or concession revenues, expires after the 2010 season.
The stadium cost is estimated at $525 million, and the city has agreed to build an on-site, 6,000-space parking lot at an additional approximate cost of $94 million.
The county’s tab adds up to $347 million, all but $50 million to be derived from tourist-tax revenues. The Marlins, who will contribute $155 million, will get $120 million in loans, and the other $35 million will be fronted by the county and paid back through yearly rent payments of $2.3 million.
In addition to building the parking garage, the city picks up $23 million, including $10 million for the demolition and cleanup of the Orange Bowl, the site of the new stadium.
The stadium, which the county will own, is slated to have 37,000 seats, including 3,000 club seats and 60 suites. It also will have a retractable roof, as it often rains — or threatens to — in the late afternoon during South Florida summers.
Under the agreement, the Marlins would have to change their name to the Miami Marlins by 2011. Sarah Talalay, over at the Sun Sentinel, is reporting that the locals aren’t too happy about this decision. The rest of Florida though? They’re probably ready to give the Marlins back to Miami.
Finally, in what right definitely looks like the coolest, and I at least hope functional stadium, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays have made a proposal for a new stadium which if approved would be completed by 2012. The $450 million dollar stadium would allow Rays hitters (or opposing hitters) to “hit the ball into the bay” ala the Giants AT&T ballpark. The best part though? The stadium roof will consist of a retractable sail-like material. From Mop Up Duty,
The new stadium would be open to the elements but could be covered with sail-like material on a cabling system when necessary. Fans or other devices would provide cooling, and some seating areas would have air-conditioning.
The stadium would be built on the site of the longtime spring training facility the team is leaving next year. But the new field would be shifted so that balls hit over the rightfield fence would splash into the water.
The design is expected to beretro-style, popular among recent ballparks. The smaller capacity (approximately 35,000)also reflects the recent trend in ballpark design. The proposed site of Al Lang stadium is only about 10 acres, which would mean no more free parking to which Tampa fans have grown accustomed.
Yes, its the Rays. Yes, they’re horrible…but if their new stadium looks like this proposed artists rendition (from Mop Up Duty), then I will go down to at least one game…
So, as I said earlier…new stadiums, they’re all the rage. Obviously, I don’t foresee these stadiums boosting attendance for too long, and with Vegas, I’m still not sure what team they’re going to attract, but at least they have (hopefully) shiny new stadiums, right? New Stadiums…it always cures what ails you. For a little while
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Major League Baseball: Marlins ballpark plan approved
Mop Up Duty: New stadium for the Rays?
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The Rays’ proposed stadium looks absolutely gorgeous and likely will stay so until a Category 5 takes that roof all the way to North Carolina. As for the Marlins, I understand this weekend they are looking for 7-10 overweight yet nimble men to form an anti-cheer group known as the Manatees (I am not making this up). Apparently, they think this would help people enjoy themselves at the ballpark to see them dance along with the better-conditioned Mermaids’ cheerleaders they already employ. Baseball in Florida is just not necessary outside of Spring. As for a stadium’s impact, on a smaller scale we are going through that in Philadelphia as Major League Soccer is about to award the area a new franchise with the promise a new soccer-only stadium will bring jobs and money to one of most impoverished parts of the region. I wrote about this awhile back on my blog as the local papers were publically debating the pros and cons of what new stadiums actually bring to local economies. Obviously, it is on a case-by-case basis how new stadiums “work” or not, and the jury doesn’t come back on those verdicts for many years after their construction.
That new stadium is FUGLY! If they did a little restructuring it could actually be viable.. Too much money for a design that is too controversial, in all seriousness, you can have a grand stadium that stands out, but this is going to suck..