Mesa, AZ is exploring selling naming rights to the new $18M
spring-training facility being built for the Cubs. It would be
first stadium in the Cactus League to sell its name, and
"probably" the first spring-training facility in the country to
do so, according to Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau Exec
Dir/League Treasurer Robert Brinton. Brinton: It's virgin
territory -- I don't think it's bad to explore" (MESA TRIBUNE,
10/9)....In Houston, radio personality Dan Patrick is taking his
campaign against a proposal for a new downtown Astros stadium to
TV, spending approximately $35,000. Patrick, VP/KPRC-AM and
KSEV-AM, has bought time for several showings of a 30-second TV
spot he produced offering the "real facts" about Proposition 1,
the proposal to approve financing of a new facility for the
Astros (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/10)....In Tampa, Bucs fans who
contributed to last fall's Charter Seat Deposit (CSD) program
will be asked to "reaffirm their commitment" later this month.
CSD participants will receive a postcard by October 25 that
requires their signature to approve the Bucs taking over their
account from the Stadium Task Force (TAMPA TRIBUNE,
10/10)....Construction worker Daniel Weber was electrocuted
yesterday during a trenching project at Phoenix's Bank One
Ballpark, marking the first construction fatality at the downtown
stadium (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/10). ...In Oakland, 10 disabled
people and Berkeley's Center for Independent Living, filed a
federal class action suit against the Oakland Coliseum for
failing to meet federal standards on wheelchair access (S.F.
CHRONICLE, 10/10).
