I can’t believe none of you wrote in to ask why I hadn’t reported on a Toronto Blue Jays game getting postponed due to falling ice puncturing a hole in the stadium roof, but I guess you’re all acclimated to waiting for the Friday roundup now for that sort of thing. But wait no longer! (Well, wait a few bullet points for that one in particular.)
- The city of Richmond built an $11 million training facility for the Washington NFL team in 2012, and is paying the team $500,000 a year to hold three weeks a year of practices in it, costs it had to dip into its school construction budget to pay off. So now the city wants to renegotiate the deal so that it’s no longer a money suck, or else it will kick the team out once its lease expires in 2020. No response from the team yet, but this is a pretty good cautionary tale about why one should never spend lots of money on practice facilities and expect an economic windfall.
- Some Portland, Oregon businesspeople who want to bring major-league baseball to that city say they’ve put in bids for two potential stadium sites, which doesn’t actually promise anything — they can use the land for something else if an MLB bid doesn’t go anywhere — but is more than nothing, I suppose. There’s still legislation passed in 2003 authorizing $150 million in bonds for a new stadium, to be repaid by state income taxes on players — which wouldn’t have penciled out 15 years ago, but might now, though it still has the problem that much of that tax money would be diverted from income that would be earned by people working in other entertainment jobs in the absence of a team — but how the rest of the money would be raised, or what team exactly would play in Portland, remains a mystery.
- A chunk of ice fell off the CN Tower and smashed a three-by-five-foot hole in the closed Rogers Centre roof on Monday, frightening players in the adjoining hotel, causing that night’s Toronto Blue Jays game to be postponed, and causing minor damage to a roof membrane. Here’s some video of ice falling off the tower, though sadly you don’t actually see it hit the roof.
- A private equity firm wants to buy Hartford’s arena for $50 million and do up to $250 million worth of renovations on it … and then the state would have to pay 7.5% a year in “rent” on the renovation costs? This sounds less like a purchase offer than a loan-sharking plan, right?
- People in Boise are really steamed about plans for a new $40 million minor-league baseball stadium that would be funded partly by public money. The word “carpetbagger” was used; parental discretion is advised.
- Puerto Rico suffered another island-wide blackout this week, but the Minnesota Twins–Cleveland Indians baseball game in San Juan went off without a hitch, thanks to months of work by MLB and lots and lots of portable generators. I’m sure residents who weren’t able to cook or shower or charge their phones for months on end were cheered that the ballgame went on.
- The new Los Angeles F.C. stadium features a section of seats that are locked closed during games, with rails for diehard supporters to lean against instead, and a 34-degree rake to make fans look more intimidating to opposing players. Opening day isn’t until April 29, so no visual evidence until then.
- MLS officials have met with prospective owners in Columbus who want to keep the Crew in town, while also conducting “a review of potential local stadium sites for the team.” The Crew’s current stadium is 19 years old. This is your dystopian future.
- The New England Revolution are threatening to move their practice facility out of Foxborough, Massachusetts unless they get new practice fields built. See Richmond item above for how that’s likely to work out.
- Reminder: Mikhail Prokhorov doesn’t own the Brooklyn Nets arena, he just owns operating rights to it, because property taxes, ew.
Thanks for the link on the Boise… I feel their pain. The same developer (Greenstone Properties) just completed a $43 million minor league stadium in my hometown: http://www.augustachronicle.com/opinion/20180414/letter-beautiful-day-in-neighborhood
Rereading that article I’m finding the similarities to be shocking: the “private meetings,” referring to the area as “blighted,” etc. The power point presentations at the bottom of this link pretty well describe the buildup to our stadium. http://www.rchana.com/common/content.asp?PAGE=347
Ice falling off the CN tower is not really news (it would be in August, however). It’s been happening for many years when weather conditions are conducive to same. Not many years ago they had to close a major thoroughfare because gigantic sheets of ice were plummetting 1200 feet and landing on the road (as I recall, no cars were hit as this started before traffic really picked up, but I might be wrong).
If the team didn’t own the stadium (D’oh!), they’d probably be clamouring for a new publicly funded facility because ice right now.
The history of Portland trying to get a NFL & or MLB team amuses me. If “Lets build Oregonian Astrodome.” didn’t happen in the 60s I doubt anything will happen.
I’m sorry I keep clicking reply to other posts and then refresh the page thinking it won’t end up as a reply.
But yeah didn’t Rogers Center get renovation money pumped into it when the Argonauts left? I doubt the Jays will be leaving the place any time soon.
No worries Ben. Yes, the parent company of the Jays have spent (gasp!) their own money to make some changes to the dome. These actually started before the Argonauts were given the boot, but digging up the floor to put actual infield dirt down (rather than the Vet style sliding pits) has happened recently (I think before the 2017 season, but am not sure).
The sliding pits were removed before start of the 2016 season. The SkyDome was the last stadium with sliding pits at the MLB level, but they’re still used overseas in some Japanese ball parks (like the Tokyo Dome)
The LA stadium sounds interesting. I’m not a huge fan of American soccer “fans” simply copying European and South American models in a somewhat snobbish manner (calling oneself a “supporter” rather than a “fan” has a rather preposterous air). That said–standing can be a fun way to watch the game if it is policed (and self-policed) properly. . . as old of a tradition as the game itself.
Still, the standard for intimidating may be Dortmund’s “Yellow Wall” of 25,000 standing spectators, with seats that can be flipped down for international matches.
As for the Revs…it isn’t clear if they want to buy the land or just have it rezoned. It is as dire of a stretch of road as there is in Massachusetts and a generally miserable stadium experience already, so why not?
The Athletics have the greatest fans in baseball, they will not be moving. With such a loyal fan base, there is no the MLB would let this prized franchise move.
I hope this post meets the tyrannical standards of the Adolph Demauze.
Has some independent agency rated the A’s fans the greatest in baseball? And if so, was it all 1,200 of them that were given that accolade?
Or is this comment an opinion only?
On tyranny: You can call me whatever names you want, but do it to other commenters and you end up in the penalty box.
Hope that’s clear enough.