In Edmonton, Joanne Ireland reports ticket sales for the Edmonton Indy on July 24 "have been humming along." Octane Motorsports Events President Francois Dumontier estimates that 40% of tickets have been sold for the Izod IndyCar Series race, but did "concede it will take some work to sell the next 60." Dumontier said, "We're satisfied with everything at this point. Keep in mind, we didn't sign the deal until January, so we had a short period of time to set up everything." Ireland notes this will be the "seventh openwheel race in Edmonton, but the first for the Montreal-based Octane group, which signed a three-year deal after the city agreed to ante up for the paving costs of the new track that will go down one of the old runways" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 4/21).
SIX FLAGS: The THOROUGHBRED TIMES' Steve Schuelein reported officials from Santa Anita Park and the L.A. Turf Club "plan to submit a presentation in mid-May" to host the Breeders' Cup World Championships in '12 for a sixth time at the California track. Santa Anita President George Haines said that he "expects competition" from Churchill Downs and NYRA for the event. Santa Anita last hosted the Breeders' Cup in '09 (THOROUGHBREDTIMES.com, 4/18).
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM: In Houston, Mike Morris reports the "agency created to finance Houston's professional sports stadiums soon may face a $27 million obligation that would halve its reserves and could push it closer to default." It is the "latest in a series of setbacks the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority has seen since the firm that insures the authority's roughly $1 billion in bonds, MBIA, had its credit rating downgraded" in '09 (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 4/21).
DEVELOPMENT ON HOLD: BC Pavilion Corp. Chair David Podmore yesterday said that "any plans for commercial development next to BC Place Stadium have been shelved until at least the fall." This news comes the day after the Vancouver City Council rejected a C$500M casino expansion project at BC Place. Podmore said, "We've got a lot of work to get the stadium complete for Sept. 30 and I don't think we're going to have time to focus both on what the alternatives are for the development and to complete the stadium" (VANCOUVER SUN, 4/21).
