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Archives: May 28-June 3, 2006
Ice the deal on new arena
RIP: London Arena
Major renovations of Suns arena a model for NBA
An arena grows in Brooklyn
Newark mayor-elect puts arena on thin ice
Jackson arena builder draws scrutiny
Checketts plays the name game in St. Louis
Big D basks in Mavericks' glow
The Heat want cheers, but can crowd noise at games
hurt your hearing?
Arena shows profit -- a first -- for April
Construction overseer hired for MSU arena |
Here's
another call for the mayor-elect of Newark to
closely scrutinize the deal made with the New
Jersey Devils (NHL) for a new downtown arena.
Whether the city can unilaterally shut down
construction on the arena when the Devils have
already put up their $100 million is debatable;
it's doubtful the contract allows the city to do
so. The larger issue, which is a valid one, is a
worry the city will spend more than the $210
million already dedicated to the project. Cory
Booker may be making some early political points
with arena opponents, but the new arena was viewed
as a cornerstone for downtown Newark
redevelopment.
When
the Phoenix Suns were debating a renovation of US
Airways Center, team officials looked at other
newer
NBA arenas and saw what worked and what didn't
work, and applied those lessons to a $67 million
renovation. The biggest issue with the arena:
while it contained suites, it didn't have vehicles
to drive higher prices for premium experiences, no
clubs, no restaurants. Plus, it didn't present a
very friendly face to a major downtown Phoenix
throroughfare. Over time the Suns widened
concourses, rebuilt concessions, added rest rooms,
build two premium clubs, constructed a
15,000-square-foot glass pavilion, and installed a
new scoreboard. The B-Lounge is the most
interesting addition: fans don't need a
membership, or even a game ticket, to hang out
there. So long as there's room, they can get in
for $15 to $30, depending upon the game -- perfect
for twentysomethings who just want to hang out.
We've
not closely followed the current plans for a new
New Jersey Nets (NBA) arena in Brooklyn, mainly
because most of the controversy surrounding the
project concerns the scale of the project, the
Frank Gehry design, and the impact it will have on
Brooklyn, not necessarily the notion of an arena.
Basically, the Atlantic Yards project has morphed
from a new arena from the Nets to a 17-building
megadevelopment that could end up being one of the
most dense housing and office projects ever built.
This is shaping up to be one of those huge debates
about urban development that New Yorkers love.
The
Hattiesburg developer who wants to build a $40
million sports arena on the site now occupied by
Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson attempted to
promote and develop a raceway in Harrison County
in the mid-1990s, and when the plan failed an
investor had lost $70,000, court records show.
Developer Greg Disotell borrowed $70,000 from
investor Jo Ann DaPozzo of Oak Grove. When he was
unable to buy the land, DaPozzo said she learned
the money was gone. DaPozzo told the newspaper she
also learned Disotell had defaulted on a loan
against the piece of land he had signed over to
her as collateral for the $70,000. It was also
revealed that Disotell accrued nearly $300,000 in
federal liens against him between 1998 and 2003,
Executives
at Dave Checketts' Sports Capital Partners are
working behind the scenes to receive final
National Hockey League approval of their $150
million acquisition of Savvis Center and the St.
Louis Blues. They are in discussions with
potential front-office personnel, making plans on
how to take best advantage of the Blues' first
overall pick in the NHL draft June 24 and
otherwise gearing up for a fresh start next
season. And near the top of their list,
undoubtedly, are negotiations with potential
naming rights partners to secure a lucrative and
long-lasting sponsorship. Naming rights
consultants have suggested companies such as U.S.
Cellular Corp., A.G. Edwards Inc. and AT&T Inc.
would fit the mold. Savvis won't be renewing its
deal, giving Checketts the perfect opportunity to
rebrand the arena and the team.
The
NBA playoffs have been enjoyable both for Dallas
Mavericks -- currently taking on the Phoenix Suns
in the Western Conference finals -- and the city
of Dallas, whose Convention and Visitors Bureau is
giddy for the nationwide exposure. There's no
price tag for all the good exposure the city is
receiving, but sports-marketing experts aren't
surprised: sports is a good way for a city to sell
itself to the wider world.
Could
loud crowd noise at an NBA playoff game
permanently harm your hearing? The South Florida
Sun-Sentinel did some measurements at the first
Heat game of the conference finals using a
store-bought electronic decibel meter and found
the noise peaking at 112 decibels. Now, OSHA says
average person can spend up to eight hours per day
in a 90-decibel environment before sustaining
hearing loss. But the crowd noise for two hours at
a basketball game was close to averaging 90
decibels.
Youngstown's
Chevrolet Centre had a profitable April, the first
month since December 2005 that didn't show a
deficit for the facility. But April's income is
only 52.6 percent of what Global Entertainment
Corp., the Phoenix company managing the center,
projected for that month. Global had projected
$54,017 in income for the center for April, but
instead it ended the month with $28,412. During
its first seven months of operations, beginning
October 2005, the center had expected $686,625 in
income, but the actual income amount for that time
period is $249,231. That is 36.3 percent of
Global's estimate. 
The
JQH Arena at Missouri State University moved
another step toward reality when MSU announced
Friday that it has hired Kansas City-based JE Dunn
Construction as construction manager for the
project. MSU will pay $3.6 million to JE Dunn. JE
Dunn will not do any of the actual work at the
arena but rather manage the day-to-day operations.