Venue News: San Diego Chargers Could Join Rams in L.A.; Las Vegas Sands Eyes Raiders With Proposed $1B Stadium
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The San Diego Chargers and Los Angeles Rams have reached an agreement to share a new stadium in Inglewood, the team announced. Chairman Dean Spanos wrote in a statement Friday that he has hopes for a new stadium in San Diego long-term, but that the team has an option and agreement with the Rams to share the Inglewood stadium beginning in 2017. This enables the Chargers to complete their move to Los Angeles if they choose to go forward. However, Spanos’s focus appears to be on figuring out how to keep the team in their current home…
…Despite the Chargers’ deal to join the Rams in 2017, Spanos plans to renew negotiations with local government officials on building a new stadium in San Diego, writes the San Diego Tribune. Now comes the hard part: working out an agreement on where a new stadium will be built and how it will be funded, and then getting approval from voters……Casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp. will lead a consortium of investors planning to build a $1 billion domed stadium on 42 acres near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, that would house the school’s football team — and possibly a National Football League franchise, writes the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Andy Abboud, Las Vegas Sands’ senior vice president of government relations and community development, said that Las Vegas needs a modern stadium with at least 65,000 seats to drive additional tourism to Southern Nevada. Mark Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, is scheduled to meet with Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, and team representatives are expected to tour the site soon. The NFL recently rejected a Raiders move to Los Angeles. Abboud said Las Vegas Sands also has had conversations with officials from other NFL teams…
…The South Florida Super Bowl Bid Committee and the Miami Dolphins unveiled some new renovations at Sun Life Stadium as they vie to become the future home of Super Bowl 53 and 54, writes WSVN. The committee showed off two new tailgating spots, one at Bayfront Amphitheater and another they are calling Tailgate Town. Both are said to be tricked out to make the Super Bowl watching experience outstanding. It is all part of a $450 million project to revamp Sun Life Stadium, including adding tarps for shaded seats, new food options, and more…
…Arkansas took another step closer to expanding Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, writes Fox Sports. The school’s board of trustees approved the preliminary measures to go forward with plans to add to the football stadium, in a plan that is projected to cost around $160 million. The Razorbacks plan for the expansion to add over 3,000 addition seats to the stadium, bringing capacity over 75,000…
…A renovation of Philips Arena, a key component of keeping the Atlanta Hawks in downtown, could be a $200 million to $300 million project, and Mayor Kasim Reed recently said the public portion of that deal could be as high as $150 million. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Reed reiterated his stance that he expects to reach a deal to overhaul the downtown arena in the first quarter of this year. He said the total cost and the taxpayer portion of the overhaul hasn’t been fixed, but the city has identified a range of $100 million to $150 million that it could afford to finance…
…The Arizona Coyotes are expecting plans for a new permanent home in the state to be finalized by the end of the regular season that will resolve the lease/arena issues that have plagued the team for years, writes ESPN. Although there are still a number of options being discussed, it’s believed the most likely scenario is a partnership with Arizona State University with a new arena being built in Tempe.
…The Arizona Coyotes are expecting plans for a new permanent home in the state to be finalized by the end of the regular season that will resolve the lease/arena issues that have plagued the team for years, writes ESPN. Although there are still a number of options being discussed, it’s believed the most likely scenario is a partnership with Arizona State University with a new arena being built in Tempe.
