Facility Notes
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Edu Transfer Could Help Toronto FC
Put In Grass At BMO Field |
The Indiana Farm Bureau (IFB) has reached a five-year deal to become the naming rights sponsor of the Colts' practice facility in Indianapolis. The complex will be called the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. The IFB replaces Huntington Bank, which inherited the sponsorship when it acquired United Federal Bank (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 8/19).
GRASS PITCH: MLS Toronto FC Manager & Dir of Soccer Operations Mo Johnston said that he "may try to use his club's share" of MF Maurice Edu's US$5M transfer fee to "replace the FieldTurf at BMO Field with natural grass." Edu earlier this week reached a deal with Scottish Premier League club Glasgow Rangers. Johnston: "We'll make a proposal to the (MLS) board in terms of can we put it towards a facility. Maybe a grass field, which I think is vital and important in moving forward" (CP, 8/19).
WORKING OVERTIME: In Newark, Margolin & Sherman report crews are working "seven days a week -- with 10-hour shifts on weekdays and eight hours on weekends -- to complete a new mezzanine section that will add 1,000 premium club seats and boxes" to Rutgers Stadium. Rutgers Univ.'s (RU) first football game is only 11 days away and tickets for those seats are already sold. RU officials "will not say how much work remains on the first phase, but those who have visited the site say none of the seats had been installed as of late last week" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 8/21).
BULLISH START: The MLS Red Bulls Tuesday installed the first steel beam for the team's new 25,000-seat Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. Red Bulls Managing Dir Erik Stover said that the stadium, which will cost around $200M, "could open by September 2009 if the winter is mild enough." The facility will include 1,116 club seats and 30 luxury suites, and the "entire bowl area part of the field will be covered by a curving, partially translucent roof." Construction to date has been "plagued by delays due to cleanup projects, design changes and, more recently, legal wrangling over nearby redevelopment projects" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 8/20).
NEARING A DEAL: Houston Mayor Bill White has asked Harris County (TX) to join the city in an MLS Dynamo stadium deal, "hinting that a $10[M] contribution by the county may be the final step needed to finalize a deal with the soccer franchise." White: "I'd say the most important issue is how might the county participate" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 8/21).
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