Facility Notes

In N.Y., Richard Sandomir reports the Mets and Yankees have held "lengthy discussions with the city about the structure of their agreements to sell the seats, scoreboards, grass, foul poles and other memorabilia from Shea and Yankee Stadium before they are torn down after the season." But Mets Exec VP/Business Operations Dave Howard and Yankees spokesperson Alice McGillion denied that the teams were "looking to buy their stadiums from the city." Howard: "We're not making a bid to buy the stadium" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/25). However, in N.Y., Jeremy Olshan reports the two teams are "negotiating with the city to allow them to buy the ballparks so they can sell artifacts" (N.Y. POST, 3/25).

SMOKE SIGNS: In K.C., Deann Smith reported if K.C. voters April 8 approve a city-wide smoking ban, it will allow more smoking at Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums, as "new and stricter" smoking rules that went into effect at the stadiums on Sunday "would be overturned if the ballot measure is approved." While the new measure would be "stricter on smoking in bars and restaurants, it doesn't include stadium smoking." A survey found that "more than half of baseball and football stadiums have banned smoking entirely" (K.C. STAR, 3/23).