SI.com’s Grant Wahl wrote, “Five years ago I never would have predicted" that K.C., an "MLS graveyard for years, would ever have the kind of ambitious local owners that it has today, much less a facility that can legitimately claim to be the finest soccer stadium in North America.” Sporting KC’s season-ticket holders “have risen from 460” when ownership group OnGoal took over in '06 “to nearly 12,000 today.” Sporting KC CEO Robb Heineman said, "We don't have any premium seats left. Everything's gone." Heineman added of opening Livestrong Sporting Park this season, “We overinvested in the building. Not just in the architecture, but we tried to start with the experience first. What's the experience that we want to deliver in each one of these spaces with a bunch of different constituencies? There are different neighborhoods all over the building the way we've designed it. We really want this to be a place to be" (SI.com, 8/4).
PRUDENT CHOICE? An OAKLAND TRIBUNE editorial states the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority Board “should be focused on making as much money as possible off events” at Oracle Arena and O.co Coliseum “given the city's and county's difficult finances.” Commissioners have indicated that they “would like to see better performance out of the Coliseum.” The editorial: “So one might think someone would question whether it is prudent to enter into another 10-year no-bid contract with SMG.” In a “surprising but refreshing development, the joint city-county panel abruptly changed course and voted at its most recent meeting to put the contract out for bid.” The authority “must ensure a transparent and fair bidding process -- one that excludes Executive Director Mark Kaufman, a former longtime SMG employee who just started working for the authority this year” (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 8/5).
OVERWHELMING SUPPORT: In Nashville, Michael Cass reports city voters “decided overwhelmingly Thursday to make it more difficult to redevelop the city-owned Tennessee State Fairgrounds.” More than 70% of voters “approved a Metro Charter amendment that will force anyone proposing redevelopment to win approval from two-thirds of council members rather than a simple majority.” Cass notes the fairgrounds cause “got an extra boost on Wednesday, when the Nashville Superspeedway in Wilson County announced it will close after frequently failing to fill seats” (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 8/5).
