Venue News & Notes: Shared Success for an Unlikely Pair

Chicago and Los Angeles may not be the most logical pair of cities to share a baseball stadium, but it turns out the White Sox and Dodgers are plenty comfortable with being roommates. On Sunday, the two teams celebrated the grand opening of their new shared spring-training stadium, Camelback Ranch, with plenty of fanfare — complete with pyrotechnics and fighter-jet flyover. The 13,000-seat stadium in Glendale, AZ, has a playing field 12 feet below grade to improve sightlines and features a fish-stocked lake that separates the Dodgers’ training facility from the White Sox’.

Spring training never looked like this. At least, not for the Dodgers. The L.A. Dodgers and Chicago White Sox faced each other Sunday in the grand opening of the new spring-training stadium they share, with the White Sox claiming a 3-2 victory at Camelback Ranch by scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning. The Dodgers and White Sox might have inflated the reported attendance — the number of empty seats in the 13,000-seat stadium suggested that 11,280 people were missing — but players on the field described the atmosphere as unique…

…The campaign to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles County made a small but significant step forward this week, but officials acknowledge that they are still in the early stages of building an $800-million stadium in the City of Industry. The Industry City Council voted 5-0 to approve the stadium environmental-impact report, despite objections from some neighboring communities. John Semcken, a VP of Majestic Realty Co., which wants to develop the stadium on 600 acres of land in Industry, says the clock has started ticking on a 30-day waiting period required under state law…

…National Basketball Association consultants this week detailed a far-reaching, $1.9 billion development plan for Cal Expo in Sacramento, CA, including an arena for the Sacramento Kings that would anchor a “city within a city.” The much anticipated meeting between Cal Expo and NBA officials outlined a 350-acre “living village” with new enclosed fair exhibit space, a mall, offices, and residences…

…With Fremont, CA, out of the running for the new A’s stadium, the City of Oakland is resuming negotiations to keep the team in its hometown, recently installed city Administrator Dan Lindheim said this week, speaking at a luncheon hosted by several Oakland chambers of commerce. He also mentioned that the city is taking an active stance on retaining the Oakland Raiders football franchise in town…

…You wouldn’t know there is a recession by looking at all the construction trailers outside Kansas City, MO’s Kauffman Stadium or the buzz of activity inside. Crews are working 10- and 11-hour shifts to finish a massive renovation project that will have Royals fans thinking they’re in a brand-new stadium for the April 10 home opener against the New York Yankees…

…The Dew Tour will not return to Baltimore this summer, the Maryland Stadium Authority announced this morning. The action sports tour, which features skateboarding, BMX, and other extreme sports, kicked off in Baltimore in 2007 and 2008 and was expected to return this year. Instead, the Dew Tour will begin its schedule in Chicago in late June and will make its Boston debut in late July.