Field of Schemes
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April 09, 2012

Rays stadium non-news, plus NYC MLS stadium non-news

It must have been a slow news weekend in the stadium and arena world — some kind of minor religious holiday, maybe? — because the last couple of days have been just jam-packed with news articles about, well, not a whole heck of a lot:

  • Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg says that "stadium talks are progressing," according to a Tampa Tribune headline, though when you read the actual article Sternberg actually said that "business people [are] working on it." Which isn't anything remotely new, but it was opening day and Sternberg had his mouth open, so the Tribune had to write down something, right?
  • In only marginally newsier news, a Rays stadium could be funded by the EB-5 green-cards-for-cash program that the Brooklyn Nets are using, according to ... a guy from the Tampa Chamber of Commerce. It's conceivable that EB-5 money could be used towards a stadium (the program basically amounts to a five-year, no-interest loan, which while certainly valuable isn't quite the same thing as cash you don't have to pay back), but any potential Rays stadium faces far bigger obstacles than interest rates.
  • The group that wants to bring an MLS franchise to New York City (the New York Red Bulls play in New Jersey) "met officials from the Hudson River Park Trust on Thursday to discuss a potential stadium on Pier 40 on the West Side of Manhattan," according to the New York Times. This would cost at least $100 million to shore up the pier, plus the cost of building the stadium itself, plus require relocating all the kids who currently play soccer on the public fields there. And these are Manhattan kids, not those Bronx ragamuffins who can just be told to pack off to other boroughs for a few years while a stadium is going up. Which means the most interesting part of the article is that "M.L.S. has looked at 19 sites in New York City and has narrowed its list to about half a dozen," though if Pier 40 is one of those that made the short list, you have to wonder what didn't make the cut.

COMMENTS

Sternberg holds this opening day chat session with the writers every year. Inevitably, usually within 3 questions, the stadium issue comes up and people stay on that line of questioning for awhile but as you've pointed out, most of what is published has alrady been said.

Posted by Jason Collette on April 9, 2012 10:54 AM

nyc soccer kids will end up fending for themselves, just like the kids in the bronx - surprised !?!
should be fun on friday (or most) nights with the tunnel portal nearby. where's the open space for parking? unless ticket holders are forced to use rail transit the cars will be a'comin'.
the folks in the west village will not be welcoming the crowds in their neighborhoods with open arms.
westway died, w/s football stadium died, time to order more flowers?

Posted by Paul W on April 9, 2012 12:16 PM

What good is a long weekend absent a 10,000 page preliminary EIA or two?

Posted by John Bladen on April 10, 2012 04:09 AM

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