In New Orleans, Tammy Nunez noted Tulane Univ. on Thursday announced that its new $55M, 30,000-seat on-campus football stadium "will be named the Yulman Stadium." Tulane President Scott Cowen said that the school "needed a lead gift" for the project, and retired Serta International Mattresses Owners Richard and Janet Yulman "stepped forward with a $15 million donation." The stadium's field "will be named Benson Field" after Saints and Hornets Owner Tom Benson and wife Gayle "stepped forward with a $7.5 million gift from the Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation." Meanwhile, EPL club Manchester United Exec co-Chair & Dir Avi Glazer and his wife, Jill, also "gave big money to the project," donating an unspecified "multi-million dollar gift." The Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Family Club "will be the club space for premium ticket holders." Jill Glazer graduated from Tulane in '85 (NOLA.com, 11/1).
NOT SO ROSY: In Pasadena, Frank Girardot reports Rose Bowl officials on Thursday said that renovation costs "rose by at least $2 million after several bids for portions of the project's final phase came in over budget." Rose Bowl CEO & GM Darryl Dunn said that stadium officials should "consider several options for keeping the cost of the project down." Since its inception, the "cost of the Rose Bowl project has ballooned." Originally estimated "at $152 million, Dunn's report now puts a price tag of $193.7 million on the renovation" (PASADENA STAR-NEWS, 11/2).
ALL ABOUT THE...STADIUM? Univ. of Miami interim AD Blake James said that there currently "are no construction plans" for a new football stadium closer to the school's Coral Gables campus. In Ft. Lauderdale, Michael Casagrande notes UM is "nearing the end of the fifth season of a 25-year lease" with Sun Life Stadium. James said that the deal "serves UM well." When asked about the possibilities of a new stadium, James said, "Is that something we'll continue to look at? Yeah. We'll take a look, and if there's something that makes more sense in the future, would I rule out playing there? No, I wouldn't rule that out. With that said, today, I don't know that we could play anywhere else except Sun Life Stadium" (
SUN-SENTINEL.com, 10/30).
