Venue News: Lambeau Field To Expand; Eagles Tickets ‘Linc’ Fans On Game Days

The Green Bay Packers plan to add about 6,600 new seats at Lambeau Field in time for the 2013 season. The project, expected to cost $130 million, will be funded by Wisconsin taxpayers and may increase the number of fans with a part-owner stake in the storied franchise. The seats will be in four levels in the south end zone. Lambeau Field is the oldest continually operating NFL stadium, and the third-oldest continually operating venue in major sports behind Chicago’s Wrigley Field and Boston’s Fenway Park. The stadium has undergone numerous renovations, updates, and additions since opening in 1957 with 32,500 seats; it now has 73,128…

… The Philadelphia Eagles are looking to make the game-day experience easier for fans with smartphones at Lincoln Financial Field. This season, for the first time, the team’s tickets have quick response codes that fans can scan with smartphones to access information about game-day events. The team also this season is using in its club-seat level a smartphone ordering system for food. The food ordering application is provided by Bypass Lane. This is the first time the company’s app is used for delivery of food rather than just quick access at concession lines. For the quick response code addition, fans have to download an app that allows their phone to scan the code. This then brings the fan to a page with all the game-day events, such as potential autograph signings, fan forums, and sponsor events…

… MetLife officially agreed to place its name on the National Football League home of the New York Giants and Jets in a 25-year agreement that may be among the biggest stadium-rights deals in U.S. sports. MetLife, the biggest U.S. life insurer and known for its “Snoopy” cartoon-dog logo, became the primary naming-rights partner of the only stadium in the U.S.’s most-popular sport shared by two teams and the home of the 2014 Super Bowl in East Rutherford, NJ. The venue will be known as MetLife Stadium. The agreement also makes the company the official insurer of the Giants, Jets and the building, and provides the company with 120,000 square feet of promotional space. Its name will be displayed on four signs outside the stadium…

… The Big Ten Conference has signed sports retail vendor MainGate to an exclusive five-year contract to sell merchandise for its football championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. MainGate’s deal also covers the Big Ten men’s and women’s basketball tournaments for four years starting with the 2012-13 season. Conference officials bundled the three events when they sent a proposal to merchandise vendors competing for the job. Football, however, is the key piece of this deal. The Big Ten’s inaugural football title game, set for Dec. 3, sold out quickly, and with a crowd of 68,000 expected, the revenue potential for retail surrounding the event tops $1 million, according to industry sources. MainGate, based in Indianapolis, operates team stores for five NFL teams, including the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. It also runs the merchandise at the NCAA Hall of Champions in its hometown…

… The University of Alaska Anchorage is inviting the community to attend a virtual groundbreaking of its recently approved sports arena that is expected to open in 2014. The event will be held at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex, where UAA basketball and volleyball teams currently play their home games. According to UAA, the new $109 million facility will include a competition and performance arena, an auxiliary gym, weight rooms, and recreational fitness areas.  However, the on-campus building will not be entirely UAA-centric; it will also host community events.