Venue News: Golden State Warriors Break Ground on Chase Center; Oakland Raiders Take Steps to Relocate to Las Vegas

Venue News puts the spotlight on the sports-venue industry, delivering the latest on new builds and recent renovations, venues currently under construction, and proposed stadiums and arenas on the horizon, all with an eye on what fans can expect from their in-game experience. This week’s Venue News looks at the Golden State Warriors breaking ground on their new arena, Chase Center; the Oakland Raiders eyeing relocation to Las Vegas; the rising coasts of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ arena renovations; the Chargers’ move to Los Angeles; and more.

Hard hats on, Steve Kerr and Kevin Durant lifted their golden shovels filled with dirt in a ceremonial moment for the Golden State Warriors franchise as it broke ground on snazzy new San Francisco digs at long last. And keeping KD in a Golden State uniform to see it through is a key part of the grand plan, writes the Associated Press. Building the 18,000-seat Chase Center has already been four-plus years in the making…

…The Raiders have filed their relocation paperwork with the NFL to move from Oakland to Las Vegas, the NFL announced in a statement Thursday. The move was anticipated. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Saturday the Raiders would file their relocation paperwork within days. It is the first step in a relocation process that won’t become official until the Raiders receive 24 votes from NFL owners to formally make the move. The Raiders had until Feb. 15 to file relocation papers. If the Raiders are given the green light to move, they likely wouldn’t relocate to their proposed 65,000-seat stadium in Las Vegas until 2020…

…Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx owner Glen Taylor is kicking another $9-12 million into the Target Center renovation project, writes the Associated Press. The Timberwolves announced the additional funds on Tuesday. The team says the new money will be used to get new seats, railings for the lower bowl, a new skyway off of the backside of the arena and a more improved WiFi platform. Taylor says the new money is geared toward making sure the project to refurbish the dated arena in downtown Minneapolis is as effective as possible. It will push the total cost of the project to between $138-141 million…

…The newly announced Los Angeles Chargers will play the next two seasons at StubHub Center in Carson, which is home to the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer, the team announced last week. StubHub Center will seat about 30,000 people for Charger games, including about 3,000 premium and field seats, 46 suites and 16 cabanas. At 30,000 seats, the StubHub Center has less than half the capacity of the Chargers’ long-time home of Qualcomm Stadium. It will be by far the smallest stadium in use by an NFL team…

…The $2.6 billion stadium the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers will share in Inglewood took another step forward last week when the Federal Aviation Administration approved the project after a lengthy review, writes the Los Angeles Times. The agency had been concerned the structure —  the centerpiece of Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s 298-acre sports and entertainment district — could interfere with radar at nearby Los Angeles International Airport. As part of a long-expected deal with the FAA, the developers will pay $29 million to install a secondary radar system at LAX to resolve the issue.