Facility Notes

NJSEA President & CEO George Zoffinger “will cut the size of the agency by 20[%] before the end of the year,” marking the “second round of major staff cuts in 4 1/2 years.” The cuts are aimed at eliminating $3M, and that is “just the beginning of a cost-savings plan that includes ending the [NJSEA’s] participation in the state pension system for future employees and raising workers’ contributions to their health-care coverage.” Zoffinger said that the “decline of the horse-racing business and the planned destruction of Giants Stadium have made the cuts unavoidable.” The NJSEA will lose about $18M annually in Giants Stadium operating profits (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 11/9).

BALLOT FALLOUT: In L.A., Billy Witz writes Tuesday’s defeat of Measure A, which would have forced the city of Pasadena to negotiate again with the NFL on a stadium plan, was aided by the league’s “on-again, off-again dalliances” in L.A. Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard said, “There’s a strong feeling in Pasadena that the NFL’s discussions here were always in the nature of a stalking horse for their discussions in the other communities where it seemed more logical for a NFL team to locate” (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 11/9) ....Univ. of Michigan regent David Brandon, a proponent of renovating Michigan Stadium to add luxury boxes, lost his re-election bid. Julia Donovan Darlow, who defeated Brandon, has said that she “wouldn’t take a stance on such a ‘complex issue’ until she was a regent” (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 11/9).

NOTES: Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott ruled the city of Arlington “must release designs for the new [Cowboys] stadium, a move the team opposed.” The club said that the “drawings, designs and plans should be kept secret for several reasons, including homeland security,” but Abbott rejected those claims. The team is not planning a challenge (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/9)....Penn National Gaming has agreed to buy Zia Partners’ Zia Park Racetrack and Black Gold Casino in New Mexico for $200M (AP, 11/7).