Facility Notes

In L.A., Greg Johnson reports the Clippers will “dispatch some reporters to other locations to free up space for pricey seats on the floor” at Staples Center. The 40 new seats go for about $350 per game, “though the cost probably will be higher because they were marketed as part of season-ticket packages that include other amenities.” Clippers Senior VP/Marketing & Sales Carl Lahr said, “Every off-season, we consider two things. Can we get more seats, and what can we do with pricing?” (L.A. TIMES, 7/18).

Cavaliers Tap Rossetti To Plan Arena Improvements

UPGRADES: SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL’s Don Muret reports the Cavaliers and Lightning have hired sports architecture firm Rossetti to plan “significant improvements to their arenas, both finalists for the 2008 Republican National Convention.” Rossetti Chair Gino Rossetti said that the projects “could cost up to $50[M] each depending on what the clubs want to accomplish,” but noted that plans “are in the early stages” (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/17 issue).

REPAIR WORK: On Staten Island, Christopher Palma reported ISC donated 500 square feet of sod and “some 18 cubic yards of clean fill” to repair a local Little League field after it was damaged by vehicular vandalism last week. Michael Printup, who is overseeing ISC’s efforts to build an 80,000-seat racetrack in Bloomfield, New York, and who coaches in the nearby South Shore Little League, arranged the donation (STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE, 7/14).