Facility Notes

AirTran Zone At Miller Park Replaces Mercedes-Benz Deal

The Brewers and AirTran Airways have reached an agreement on a multi-year sponsorship and marketing partnership that includes the naming rights to the AirTran Airways Landing Zone seating area in right field at Miller Park. AirTran also will receive Miller Park signage, in-game promotions and advertising in publications (Brewers). Terms of the deal were not disclosed. AirTran replaces Mercedes-Benz, which pulled out of the naming-rights deal at the end of the '08 season (BIZJOURNALS.com, 2/3).

PRICE CHECK: In N.Y., Jotham Sederstrom reported the "stratospheric cost of protecting the Atlantic Yards from terrorist attacks could be the death knell" for the proposed Barclays Center. A source indicated that the "bulletproof glass facade proposed for the glitzy arena will cost a mind-blowing $625 per square foot." The source said of Forest City Ratner, "I think the owners clearly didn't have their financing tied down for this project, and that's going to be the biggest hurdle. With the security concerns at the arena, there's not much you can do to make it that much cheaper" (NYDAILYNEWS.com, 2/2).

LAND LORDS: In Oklahoma City, Bryan Dean reports the city council "voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an agreement" to buy six acres of land, which will be home to a practice facility for the Thunder. The city "will pay about $500,000" for the land, which is owned by Integris. The land "will be paid for from a temporary sales tax OK'd by voters last year for the practice facility and Ford Center improvements." The tax is "expected to raise about" $120M. The facility will cost about $15M and will take "about two years to build" (DAILY OKLAHOMAN, 2/4).

COMING UP SHORT: The BUSINESS COURIER OF CINCINNATI's Dan Monk reports Hamilton County (OH) stadium tax revenue fell $2.2M "short of expectations" in '08 and $5.8M "short of what county officials actually spent from the rapidly draining fund." The shortfalls "could cause county leaders to push for lease concessions from" the Reds and Bengals. The half-penny sales tax enacted to help finance the stadiums raised $65M in '08, down 1.4% from '07. Stadium tax revenue in '08 "suffered its steepest decline in seven years," while '09 is "off to an even slower start, with January sales tax proceeds down more than" 3% (BUSINESS COURIER OF CINCINNATI, 1/30 issue).