Venue News & Notes: Tremors in San Francisco

Tough economic times could mean cutbacks on three new sports stadiums set to take root in California. Stadiums that have been years in the making for the San Francisco 49ers, San Jose Earthquakes, and Oakland A’s may be put on hold because developers can no longer afford to immediately fund the planned projects. Officials for all three teams remain optimistic, but economists are far less so.
…The nation’s economic free fall could be undercutting plans for three multimillion-dollar South Bay sports stadiums — plans, in some cases, that have been years in the making. So far, the San Francisco 49ers, San Jose Earthquakes, and Oakland A’s, all of which hope to open new homes worth a combined $1.5 billion by 2012, insist that they are forging ahead. But the economy is raising tough questions about where all that money will come from and when….
…With the Giants and the Jets sitting in first place in their respective divisions, their success has prompted the N.F.L. to begin considering a potential problem: What happens if two teams that share a stadium were to host conference championship games? “Logistically impossible” is how the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which operates Giants Stadium, described the possibility of playing two games on one day in one stadium…
… Duke University is moving forward with a plan that could add luxury suites to venerable Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC. The school’s athletics department is in the process of selecting an architect to develop a 10-year master plan for its sports and recreation facilities. Adding premium seats to Cameron, home of Blue Devil hoops and the “Cameron Crazies,” is one of the options the architects will study…
…The University of Louisville, KY, is guaranteeing that fans who hold season basketball tickets at Freedom Hall will be able to get the same number of seats in the future downtown arena. Fans wanting to buy additional season tickets at the $238 million, 22,000-seat venue may be placed on a waiting list, according to Gary Friedman, U of L’s associate athletic director for development…
…Goodyear, AZ, is striving to evolve from a sleepy suburb into an entertainment and employment hub even as it wrestles with multiple financial troubles. On Monday, in a dusty field south of Interstate 10, the city continued its transformation with a sunny groundbreaking for the $33 million spring-training home of the Cincinnati Reds. It’s the second professional baseball team building a training base in Goodyear, joining the Cleveland Indians for the 2010 season.