In Reno, Chris Murray reported the Univ. of Nevada's Mackay Stadium will undergo an $11.5M renovation "if the proposed project is approved" by the school's Board of Regents. The project, which would be completed for the start of the '16 season, would "renovate, modernize and add additional revenue streams to one of the Mountain West's more dilapidated stadiums." If approved, Mackay will "get its largest facelift since the stadium was built 47 years ago" (RGJ.com, 11/22).
UNPLUGGING THE DAM: In Portland, Connor Letourneau noted a new partnership between Oregon State and AT&T should "make it easier for Beavers fans to use cell phones on game days." AT&T has installed a new Distributed Antenna System (DAS) at Reser Stadium to "expand its wireless Internet coverage." Since the installation, AT&T customers are reportedly "averaging more than 145GB of mobile data per game day." That is about "415,000 social media posts with photos each game" (OREGONLIVE.com, 11/24).
BEAR NECESSITIES: In Oklahoma City, Berry Tramel wrote Baylor's new McLane Stadium is "simply fabulous." Tramel: "The setting. The architecture. The amenities. You walk around McLane Stadium and you get the same feeling you get when you walk through one of the new baseball parks that are so stunning. ... Just the feeling that, this is a cool place to be regardless of what might be happening on the field" (NEWSOK.com, 11/24).
FIT FOR A QUEEN CITY: Univ. of Cincinnati President Santa Ono said the renovation of Nippert Stadium has "multiple components to it." Ono: "One is to be state of the art. The other is a financial one. The five story upper deck we're creating -- the revenue from the ticket sales from that will be equivalent to the entire rest of the stadium. It really doubles the revenue coming into the university. That accomplishes a number of things. It lets us compete at the highest level. It decreases the reliance on the university budget" (CINCINNATI.com, 11/23).
HARDLY A LEMON: An ORLANDO SENTINEL editorial stated with a $207M reconstruction to the Citrus Bowl stadium nearly complete, it is now in "much better shape to hold on to its annual lineup of the Florida Classic, two college football bowls and other sporting contests, while adding more major events." Everything but the stadium's upper bowl "has been replaced," and about 85% of the venue "is new." The investment of public funds "already has paid dividends." Orlando now has a stadium "to be proud of -- a development worth savoring, and celebrating" (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 11/22).
