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Facility Notes

Watkins Glen Int'l will “continue a long-term renovation plan with another $1.5 million in improvements.” International Speedway Corp. has “approved funding to replace three more grandstands,” which will bring the “amount invested into [the] facility since 2001 to just over $30 million.” This “latest round of capital improvements” will replace three grandstands that “have wooden bleacher seats and will be replaced by metal structures that match the four grandstands that were built during the 2011 season.” The completion of the project “will add approximately 2,000 seats” (BIZJOURNALS.com, 9/28).

STAYING PUT: In Buffalo, Rodney McKissic reports the Bills Thursday officially announced “an agreement with St. John Fisher College that will keep the team’s training camp in Pittsford.” Terms were not disclosed “but the Bills reportedly will remain at Fisher for the next five years.” The school “will remove four tennis courts adjacent to the field house to install a grass field.” It was "vital" to the Bills’ regional marketing efforts that they retained Fisher, as approximately “15 percent of the Bills’ fan base resides in Rochester” (BUFFALO NEWS, 9/30).

NOT READY: The Katz Group said that “there’s no way a new arena can be ready for the beginning of the Oilers 2014-15 season.” Kats Group Exec VP & General Counsel John Karvellas said in a statement that “more delays in the already prolonged negotiations could keep the Oilers out of a new arena" until the start of the '15-16 season (EDMONTON SUN, 9/29). The statement read in part, “The Oilers’ lease at Rexall Place expires in less than 33 months, and we are already well past the point of being able to have a new arena in place when the Oilers’ 2014 season opens. Soon we will lose the opportunity to be in a new arena for the 2015 season. And construction costs are rising, as we have feared they would. These and other factors create a real and unavoidable urgency to get something done” (EDMONTONJOURNAL.com, 9/29).

WE'RE JUST TALKING HERE: In California, Andrew Galvin reported that Chivas USA GM Jose Domene denied reports the city of Santa Ana and the MLS club have "approved an agreement under which the city will negotiate for six months" on the possibility of moving the team to a new venue. Domene: "I haven't heard of this. We have been in talks with the city of Santa Ana, as well as four other cities. We haven't signed with any of them or committed to any exclusivity of any type of negotiation" (OCREGISTER.com, 9/27).

PAINTING NEW LINES: In Phoenix, Jose Garcia reported Tucson and Pima County officials “announced a multiyear partnership Thursday with Kino Stadium officials to allow [MLS] teams to train at the stadium during preseason.” Four unnamed teams “will start training in February and will participate in four games in late February," while fans can begin attending matches in early March. Kino Stadium officials “will convert its baseballs fields into soccer fields" (AZCENTRAL.com, 9/29).

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