Venue News: A Look at Tokyo’s Proposed Venues for 2020 Olympics; Raiders Hope for New Stadium

Compiled by Karen Hogan, Associate Editor, Sports Video Group

The venues planned for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo both look to the future and incorporate the past. A futuristic 80,000-seat main stadium will be the centerpiece, touted by organizers as one of the most advanced in the world. Designed by Zaha Hadid, it will go up on the site of the Olympic Stadium from 1964, the last time Tokyo was host. The Japanese capital, selected last weekend over Istanbul and Madrid to host in 2020, will also reuse three venues from the 1964 Games, demonstrating a commitment to its Olympic legacy. Yoyogi National Gymnasium, known for its eye-catching suspension roof design, was the venue for swimming and basketball in 1964 and will host handball in 2020. Table tennis will be held at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, home to water polo and gymnastics in 1964. And judo will return to Nippon Budokan…

…Hope springs eternal before the first kickoff of a regular season, perhaps nowhere more than in the streets of Silver and Blackdom. The Oakland Raiders may not have had a winning season since 2002 but the slate is clean for Oakland as it prepares for Sunday’s opener at Indianapolis. It’s Year 2 of the Raiders’ new regime and owner Mark Davis is as enthused as any fan, but he is also realistic. ESPN sat down with Davis to discuss his hopes for the season and desires for a new stadium…

…The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority officially gave the all-clear to the Minnesota Vikings on Wednesday afternoon, saying a review of the Wilf family’s finances showed the team’s owners won’t have any trouble paying for their $477 million share of the team’s new stadium, even after a New Jersey judge orders the family to pay damages in a 21-year-old lawsuit.  The Vikings, who had broken off talks on lease and developments while the review was going on, responded with a cheery statement, saying the stadium will open in 2016 as scheduled and professing their eagerness to continue working “collaboratively” with the stadium authority. The rhetoric had changed from where it was a couple weeks ago, but in reality, the facts surrounding the situation never changed…

…Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi is situated on Ward Island, braced on one side by Oso Bay and on the other side by Corpus Christi Bay. With some of the highest average wind speeds in the nation, the entire campus possesses a maritime atmosphere that inspired the nickname for its students: Islanders. Thus, when it came time to specify loudspeakers that would remain outside around the clock at the new $9 million Dugan Family Soccer and Track Stadium, A/V design firm Anthony James Partners specified Danley Sound Labs’ new OS-80 loudspeaker. The OS-80 delivers the exceptional fidelity and pattern control that are the hallmarks of Tom Danley’s innovative loudspeaker designs in a fully-weatherproof housing.