The Cubs yesterday said they are "on the July 10 agenda for the Commission on Chicago Landmarks and expect to win approval for their revised plan to renovate Wrigley Field -- including seven outfield signs, two of them video scoreboards -- after a tweak to accommodate Mayor Rahm Emanuel." Cubs VP/Communications & Community Affairs Julian Green said, "We’re not prepared to lose another year and jeopardize delivering on the promises we made to our players, our fans and our (advertising) partners." Green added, "We’re confident we’ve addressed all of the outstanding issues. ... We took the widening of the bullpen doors off the table. The only material change was those doors" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 7/1).
TECH DECK: In St. Paul, Andy Greder reported the Vikings are "investigating how best to incorporate technology" into their new $976M stadium as they "explore a bid" for a MLS expansion franchise. The Vikings in May met with Sporting Innovations, a "software company offshoot" of Sporting KC. While in K.C., the Vikings saw how Sporting uses Playback, "a feature on their in-house app, to bring replays of goals to fans." Sporting KC CMO Andy Tretiak said that Sporting Innovations and the Vikings "could be future partners to help enrich the fan experience at the new stadium" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 6/28).
SIZE MATTERS: ESPN's Keith Olbermann called out the Jaguars in his "World's Worst" segment last night for "once again emphasizing the important things about football: In-game cabanas and giant video screens." The Jaguars are installing a video board that would be bigger than the ones at AT&T Stadium and NRG Stadium, because, as Olbermann said, "When you go to an NFL game, you don't want to watch the actual game in person in front of you. You want to watch it over there on a video board." He asked, "You people realize you're arguing over the size of your television?" ("Olbermann," ESPN2, 6/30).
NEW LIFE: In Cincinnati, Erin Caproni reported Miami (Ohio) Univ. is spending about $20M on "four projects to reinvigorate its sports facilities." Miami AD David Sayler said that about 95% of the cost was "funded by private donors to renovate the arena at Millett Hall, add new training facilities at the Goggin Ice Center, move all of the baseball team’s facilities to its home field and create an indoor training facility for a variety of athletes." The changes are "part of the plan Sayler pitched to university officials when he was hired" in December '12 (BIZJOURNALS.com, 6/30).
