Venue News: NFL Owners Approve Inglewood Stadium Proposal; Sacramento Kings Plan ‘Most Connected’ Arena in Sports

NFL owners have approved a proposed Inglewood stadium, opening the door for the St. Louis Rams to return to Los Angeles for the first time since 1994, writes KABC. Owners voted 30-2 in favor of the Inglewood stadium project over a joint bid between the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers to build a $1.7 billion stadium in Carson. The Chargers have the option to join the Rams in Inglewood or remain in San Diego. The NFL said the Chargers have one year to make a decision…

…Earlier this week, NFL owners voted to move the St. Louis Rams back to LA. The Rams will most likely play in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum next season, but they have their eyes on a much bigger venue — a $1.8 billion stadium they want to build in Inglewood, CA. According to Business Insider, the stadium is being designed by HKS Architects, a firm that has built several other NFL stadiums. Over the summer, HKS representatives showed off the renderings for the beautiful, futuristic stadium. The plans would place the stadium on the old Hollywood Park racetrack as part of a larger park complex being built. An HKS representative said in the presentation that the firm hoped to have the building finished in September 2018…

…The Sacramento Kings recently revealed in an article by owner Vivek Ranadive how they are utilizing new technology to build the fastest, most connected indoor sports and entertainment venue in the world. By working with leading technology companies, the Kings plan to bring unparalleled internet speeds and connectivity to fans at Golden 1 Center, which is scheduled to open in downtown Sacramento this October. The result will be a transformative fan experience that both immerses fans in an intuitive arena environment that will anticipate and quickly respond to their needs and delivers the best connectivity in the NBA, allowing fans to surf the fastest and most reliable Internet connection out there…

…NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has told Calgary to get moving on a new arena for the Flames, but Mayor Naheed Nenshi says the city will not be hurried into a multi-million-dollar project, writes the National Post. Bettman told the city’s business community at a chamber of commerce event there should be more urgency to get the project underway, particularly from city council. The 20,000-seat arena and 30,000-seat football stadium, part of the proposed CalgaryNEXT project, will cost an estimated $890 million…

…Orlando City will have to wait another year before it opens its new home, writes the Orlando Sentinel. The club announced that construction of the new soccer-specific stadium is taking longer than expected and the team will play the entirety of the 2016 season in the Citrus Bowl. Orlando City originally hoped to debut in the soccer-specific stadium toward the end of the 2016 season. The $155 million privately-financed stadium is expected to seat about 25,500…

…The new Pavilion at Ole Miss may sit next door to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, but in no way is it in the football stadium’s shadow, writes Sports Illustrated. The brand-new 9,500-seat multi-purpose arena creates a new centerpiece for the updated athletics complex near The Grove, the school’s central open space and well-known tailgating destination. With more than 225,000 square feet, the building has the largest center-hung video display board in college sports with nearly 2,400 square feet of LED on the Daktronics board. The center-hung configuration will consist of 13 video displays…

…A new sports and entertainment venue set to open this spring in Las Vegas will be officially named T-Mobile Arena, the company announced last week. The 20,000-seat arena, to be located just off the city’s famed Strip, is scheduled to open in April and is being billed by the Bellevue, WA-based company as the premiere destination for live events in a city that hosts no shortage of them. T-Mobile’s joint-venture partners on the project are AEG and MGM Resorts International.