New Cowboys Stadium Adds Big 12 Football Title Games In 2009, 2010

Days after being awarded Super Bowl XLV, the new Cowboys stadium has been selected to host the Big 12 football championship game in ’09 and 2010, according to Chip Brown of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg said that some negotiations remained, including the stadium rental fee and “other enticements the Cowboys could provide.” The bid was based on an 80,000-seat configuration, and Weiberg said that the conference “stands to generate additional revenue from the facility’s multitude of suites and club seats.” The Big 12 also awarded the 2010 and 2011 basketball tournaments to the Sprint Center in K.C. But Weiberg and Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman, who chaired the Big 12 BOD at this week’s conference meetings, both said that the two-year contracts “should not be read as a move toward anchoring those events.” But they added that if Arlington and K.C. “did well ... there’s a chance they could be awarded those events in 2011-12 and 2012-13” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/25).

EARLY TIP-OFF: Starting with the ’09 Big 12 basketball tournaments at Ford Center in Oklahoma City, the men will switch to a Wednesday-Saturday format, with the women playing Thursday-Sunday. Men’s coaches “fueled the change” because they “preferred having an extra day to prepare for postseason play.” It will also give the NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection committee “more time to consider Big 12 teams” (K.C. STAR, 5/25).

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Citrus Bowl Renovations Low On Central Florida Voters’ Priority List

The Arlington City Council approved a financial incentive package for Glorypark, which is being developed by MLB Rangers and Stars Owner Tom Hicks’ holding company and Ohio-based Steiner & Associates. The city will issue $135M in bonds to pay for public infrastructure and parking garages. The bonds will be repaid with funds generated from a “tax increment finance district in which 70[%] of the increase in property taxes and a half-cent of the city’s sales tax will fund public infrastructure” and from a public improvement district, in which the city will assess extra property taxes on Glorypark to build garages (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 5/25).

MAGIC ACT: A poll paid for by the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce surveying 500 Central Florida voters showed a plan to spend $1.1B on a new arena and performing sports center and upgrades to the Citrus Bowl ranked “dead last in a poll of community priorities.” Only 14% ranked “building world-class performing arts, sports and entertainment venues” a high priority, last among the 16 issues included. However, just 150 of those surveyed live in Orange County (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/25).

PARK PLACE: In L.A. Bill Plaschke writes the parking lot at Dodger Stadium “is not only working again, but it’s better than ever.” The team tweaked its system, which caused massive backups on Opening Day, by “adding many more attendants, city workers and cameras,” and reopening an additional gate. Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt said, “We’re not declaring victory yet, but right now we’ve improved every aspect of the old system” (L.A. TIMES, 5/24).

Print | Tags: Cablevision, Dallas Stars, English Premier League, Facilities, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, New York Rangers, Southwest Sports Group