In Miami, Barry Jackson notes the Marlins' new stadium, "for now, remains nameless." Marlins President David Samson said that the team has "spoken with several companies -- and were close with at least one -- but decided to reassess." The Marlins said that the stadium "likely would be called Marlins Park, at least at the start, if they don’t strike a naming-rights deal before the opener." Meanwhile, Jackson notes ticket sales "remain brisk." Although Samson "will not release numbers, he said the team likely will finish with the eighth- or ninth-most season ticket sales in baseball." Marlins Exec VP/Ballpark Development Claude Delorme said that most of the "premium seats have been sold, but 'a decent' number of club seats remain" (MIAMI HERALD, 1/6).
LEADING THE PACK: In Milwaukee, Don Walker reports Packers and construction execs Thursday "gave members of the media a tour of what work has been done so far" at Lambeau Field. On the "north side of the stadium, steel work is up where a new stadium gate featuring six elevators and a new entrance for the disabled will be built." That work "also will include construction of a rooftop viewing terrace for use by fans with club seats." On the "south side, workers were busy putting in foundations and elevator pits for what will be a 6,700 seat section." All of the work "is expected to be completed in time for the 2013 season." By the beginning of the '12 season, the north section "should be finished, and two new videoboards will be in place at both end zones" (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 1/6).
OLYMPIC DEBT: In London, Ashling O'Connor reports London taxpayers "will bear the burden of a [US$358M] debt on the Olympic Park for the years after the 2012 Games under a new land transfer deal agreed [to] with the Government." The liability "will pass to the Greater London Authority (GLA) in April after months of negotiations with the Treasury during which" London Mayor Boris Johnson "sought to reduce the risk of owning a 500-acre property whose commercial worth after the Games is uncertain." The revised agreement "will mean that the GLA is entitled to the first" $346M of any "future receipts from land sales in order to repay the debt," which stands at $541M. The government "will pay it down" to $358M by March 31, 2014, but it had "originally been envisaged that it would cover it in full." Any further "upside from sales will be split 25:75 with the Lottery, which was raided for" $1B in '07 to help fund the $14.4B Olympic project, and then "50:50 with the Exchequer" (LONDON TIMES, 1/6).
GOING OUT WITH A BANG: In Orlando, Mark Schlueb notes developers of the site where Amway Arena sits "have revised their demolition plans and now say they'll use explosive charges to implode the entire building sometime in March." Officials in Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer's administration had previously said that imploding the arena "was too risky because explosives could damage a 9-foot stormwater drainage pipe that runs beneath the building" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/6).
