As the MLB Giants get set to open Pac Bell Park with an
exhibition game tomorrow and Saturday, the team's Managing
General Partner Peter Magowan talked with Monte Poole of the
OAKLAND TRIBUNE about the challenges of building the
privately funded facility. Magowan: "It was a very
challenging project. We were told by people who finance
sports facilities -- hockey/basketball arenas --that it
couldn't be done. They said arenas could be done because
there are so many other uses. ... They didn't see us
generating enough revenue for the facility to privately
finance it." Magowan said fellow MLB team owners were
skeptical of the Giants' financing plan: "Originally, they
were extremely skeptical. They figured this project would
never fly. And if it did, we'd be so drowned in our own
debt that we'd go bankrupt. Well, that ain't going to
happen. I think now there is a growing respect for what
we've done. Most of the owners have been out here. They've
gone over our books. They have put, frankly, a lot of these
elements into their own stadium plans." Magowan added, "I
think a lot of people didn't want to see [the financing
plan] work initially. ... Everybody knew if we raised money
ourselves, it could be potentially embarrassing for other
owners in other towns" (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 3/29).
PRAISE: In San Jose, Mark Purdy profiled Pac Bell and
wrote that fans will "see right away what the fuss is about.
The sight lines are terrific. The concourses are wide. The
field is green and lush. ... [But] there are going to be
issues in certain areas. Some are internal, some external.
The Giants players, for example, are not terribly excited
about the one-way glass above their underground batting
cages. .. Ballplayers will also be forced to walk across [a
corridor] when they leave the dugout and go to the locker
room, giving [fans] another up-close opportunity to check
out their heroes." Purdy added that traffic around the
facility "will be a monster" (S.J. MERCURY NEWS, 3/26).
DEALS: CA-based Internet retailer Webvan has signed a
three-year advertising and sponsorship deal with the Giants
at Pac Bell. An image of one of the company's vans will be
painted on the brick wall in right centerfield, and
advertising and logos will be featured on homeplate and
club-level rotating signs, concourse signs, directional
signs and beverage cup holders. During the regular season,
Webvan will sponsor a minimum of five in-stadium promos
(Webvan)....Coca-Cola is offering a new, limited-edition 8
oz. glass contour bottle to Giants fans commemorating the
opening of Pac Bell (Coca-Cola)....Sega reached an exclusive
agreement to construct the "Sega Sports at Centerfield"
interactive gaming complex at Pac Bell (Sega).
