Google looks to have broken all of its RSS feeds, so if I missed anything important this week, drop me an email and I’ll play catchup next week:
- The Atlanta Hawks are now offering a “virtual tour” of the suites at their new arena, which team CEO Steve Koonin describes thusly: “It’s going to be a social place unlike anywhere else in the NBA. All of our research told us that people don’t want to sit down in a chair eating a hot dog out of aluminum foil and watch a game. They want a great night out. … Think Vegas pool meets sporting event.” Add another data point to the growing evidence that sports teams don’t want their fans to come to watch the game anymore, probably because they know that half the time your team’s games aren’t worth watching.
- Syracuse University is going to spend $118 million to, among other things, replace its stadium’s air-supported fabric roof with a non-air-supported fabric roof, as well as adding “the Wi-Fi.” Syracuse athletic director John Wildhack, according to Syracuse.com, noted that “there has been no money from the state or county promised at this point but indicated the school will continue to explore its options.” At least Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner managed to head off building a new stadium for the private university with public dollars, but still, watch your wallets, New York taxpayers.
- A part-owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers is buying the Carolina Panthers for an NFL record $2.2 billion, and the city of Charlotte has set aside $75 million in public money for stadium renovations for the new rich guy in town, on top of the $87.5 million the city gave the team for renovations five years ago. This undoubtedly helps make the Panthers worth $2.2 billion, which raises the question of whether Charlotte city subsidies are just helping to enrich a serial workplace sexual harasser.
- David Beckham’s Miami soccer stadium proposal has missed its window for an August public referendum vote and now will have to wait for November at the earliest, because of course it has.
- The $5 billion price tag for the Los Angeles Rams stadium development project has a bit more of a breakdown now, with Sports Business Journal reporting that the stadium and an accompanying 6,000-seat amphitheater alone will cost $4.25 billion to build. I still don’t get how Stan Kroenke expects to turn a profit, but at least it’s his money he’s throwing at this thing.
- If you live in Portland, Oregon and want to be part of a focus group about a potential new MLB stadium there, sign up here.
5B, how quickly the days of 0.5 to 1 billion being shockingly high have been blown through.
A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon we’re talking about real money.
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2776767-nba-executive-reportedly-says-league-will-eventually-have-team-in-kansas-city
Vague statements and anonymous sources, but still interesting. Sprint Center seems to run a profitable business without a permanent tenant.
Uh. Wow. That would be a financially horrible idea.
That area is so college basketball crazy the team will need to go on a one month road trip in March to keep the Sprint center open for college basketball. It’s part of the reason the Kings left. A NBA would be just gasping for any attention especially if they’re just mid teir.
“Seattle and KC to me are most valuable markets for league expansion when it makes sense,” says unnamed guy who works somewhere in the NBA and has no grasp on English grammar.
I kind if read that as a warning to the other cities with NBA teams, “Nice team you have here, would be a shame if something happened to it.”