Mets co-Owner Fred Wilpon said that he dismissed HOK
Sports from any future work on a new Mets ballpark because
the firm wouldn't end its ties to the Yankees. Wilpon:
"They did not want to sign an exclusivity agreement, which
earlier they had promised to do" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 7/21).
...In Baltimore, Jon Morgan reports that the Ravens new
stadium will not feature escalators serving the upper decks
after team and state officials felt "the costly devices are
dangerous and unreliable at the heights that would be
required at the stadium." Fans will use pedestrian ramps
and stairs, or one of the facility's eight public elevators
(Baltimore SUN, 7/21)....PepsiCo agreed to purchase
Tropicana from Seagram for $3.3B, and in N.Y., Richard
Wilner reports that Coca-Cola recently passed on a pouring
rights deal with the Devil Rays after Tropicana purchased
naming rights at the team's facility in St. Petersburg.
PepsiCo currently holds pouring rights at Tropicana Field
(N.Y. POST, 7/21)....The Lions will play on a new turf in
the Silverdome this season called "Magic Carpet."
Manufactured by Astroturf Industries, installation of the
new surface will cost $2.5M, including a hydraulic system
used to unroll and roll up the turf (DETROIT NEWS, 7/21).
