Venue News & Notes: Winter Classic in New York?

After the success of this year’s NHL Winter Classic at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, the league would be hard-pressed to find an equally historic host for the 2010 edition, so instead they’re looking toward the brand spankin’ new. The new Yankee Stadium, set to open in April, appears at the top of the NHL’s wish list for host venues for next year’s event. “We would have liked to have been the last event in the old Stadium,” said Don Renzulli, SVP of events for the NHL. “Now we’d like to be the first non-baseball event in the new Stadium.”

…The new Yankee Stadium is at or near the top of the National Hockey League’s wish list to host the Winter Classic next New Year’s Day. Don Renzulli, SVP of events for the NHL, said league officials will start touring possible sites for the next big outdoor game soon, after the NHL All-Star Game Jan. 25. And Yankee Stadium is expected to be high on the list, as it has been the past two years…

…The University of Washington has reached a tentative agreement to play its home football games at the Seahawks’ Qwest Field in 2010. That is, if the school is remodeling crumbling Husky Stadium by then. That is quite an “if” in the state legislature, which the UW is lobbying to get public funding for its project. This week, it appeared that the downtrodden Huskies, 0-12 last season, are more likely to play in the Rose Bowl than to get public money to remodel the 88-year-old stadium…

…The return of professional soccer to the Tampa Bay, FL, area took a hit this week when the Tampa Bay Rowdies were forced to withdraw their zoning-variance application in front of the Hillsborough County Commission. The Rowdies are a new team in the United Soccer League’s first division and are scheduled to begin play in 2010. The current team wants to build a 5,500-seat stadium with no public financing…

…While public funding for sports facilities has grown more tenuous in these times of economic troubles, former Sonics star Fred Brown and business partner Dave Bean continue to be lonely voices for a different solution. The two Seattle entrepreneurs are still pushing to find private investors for an ambitious $1 billion arena, likely south of Qwest and Safeco fields, that could house professional basketball and hockey in Seattle…

…The uncertain economy is causing a delay in Lincoln, NE’s plans for a new arena. With financing in question, the $150 million project is on indefinite hold. That means the men’s and women’s basketball teams will have to wait a little while longer for a new home court. Leaders in Lincoln said they will delay a vote on building a new arena that was supposed to take place in May…

…The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce has come out in support of an NFL stadium proposed for Industry. The chamber’s board voted to support the project Jan. 8, largely because of the thousands of jobs the project would bring to the area, a spokesperson said. “We’re viewing everything this year through a lens of job creation and economic growth,” said Gwen Oldham, Chamber marketing and communications director. “Our board voted to support the project because it will be such a great stimulus to our economy.”