Miller Park Stadium District officials said that the stadium's retractable roof is helping the Brewers "draw an average of 1 million more baseball fans a year than the team attracted in its final years at County Stadium -- about 2.56 million a season." In Milwaukee, Don Behm cited a Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee survey as showing that 45% of fans attending Brewers games come "from outside the five-county Milwaukee metropolitan area," and those fans are "opening their pocketbooks." The study was "commissioned" by MLB (MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 3/13).
THE SECRET GARDEN: A N.Y. TIMES editorial states architects, designers and "a few visionary politicians have been trying to persuade" MSG Co. to relocate MSG to facilitate reconstruction on Penn Station, which is below the arena. The hope for a new grand entranceway to Penn Station will be "crushed for years, maybe decades," if MSG Co. manages to "persuade the city to give them a new lease that will allow the Garden to stay just where it is 'in perpetuity.'" The Garden has "moved twice since its original location," and it "can move again" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/14).
FIT FOR A QUEEN CITY: Triple-A Int’l League Charlotte Knights VP & COO Dan Rajkowski said that construction on a new $54M stadium is "on schedule and on budget." In Charlotte, April Bethea reported work is "expected to be 'substantially complete' by year's end with the Knights set to begin playing uptown" by the start of the '14 season. The team has "offered past season ticket holders a chance to choose seats they'd like in the new stadium" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 3/13).
SAY CHEESEHEAD: Packers officials said that a $143M renovation project to Lambeau Field is "on budget and on schedule." While some outside seating work "still needs to be done," the project is "expected to be done in time for the Packers' popular Family Night scrimmage this summer" (AP, 3/12).
