Venue News & Notes: Meadowlands Gets Leg Up on Cowboys Stadium

The Dallas Cowboys boast of having the “most technologically advanced entertainment venue in the world.” Smartphone users might disagree. The recently opened New Meadowlands Stadium is pulling ahead, at least for mobile applications. The New York Times published a story recently about a new free app that will give fans at the stadium video replays, game statistics, and live video from other games. The software will run only at the East Rutherford, NJ, facility, according to the Times. The Cowboys have nothing like that now, but they are working on mobile apps, said team spokesman Brett Daniels…

…After overnight storms further drenched an already uber-wet Central Iowa region Wednesday morning, Ames residents are scrambling. That includes the Iowa State athletic department. Hilton Coliseum, the school’s basketball arena, was surrounded by flood waters early Wednesday morning, causing one Des Moines Register photographer to describe the Hilton Coliseum as an “island”…

…Earlier this decade, when the Oakland A’s and Minnesota Twins were regular playoff participants, they were often compared for their successes on relatively small payrolls. Now the Twins remain a first-place team — and they have a brand-new downtown stadium, precisely the item the A’s believe would allow them to remain contenders year in and year out. For Oakland players used to playing in a less-than-ideal building, the thought of a sparkling new stadium is pretty nice. “Without a doubt,” A’s second baseman Mark Ellis said. “That stadium allowed them to keep guys like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. It’s a good situation. But it will happen eventually for this team [the A’s].”