Facility Notes
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Harrah's Continuing To Negotiate Its Role In
Building 20,000-seat Arena In Las Vegas |
Harrah's Entertainment yesterday said it is "continuing to negotiate its role in a joint-venture partnership to build a 20,000-seat arena on 10 acres of land owned by Harrah's" on the Las Vegas strip. Responding to a SportsBusiness Journal report that the company backed out of investing in building the arena, Harrah's said in a statement, "We believe the arena project is an important one for Las Vegas, and continue to make land available for the project. We remain in negotiations with [AEG] to finalize the arena transaction." Another statement from Harrah's said the negotiations include "a possible ownership structure that was always one potential capital structure for the deal" (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 9/17).
PRICE IS RIGHT: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Matthew Futterman reports the Jets are "joining with eBay to auction off [PSLs] to 2,000 of the best seats" at the team's new Meadowlands stadium. The Jets "expect the licenses to go for more than $25,000 each." From October 19-27, eBay's StubHub unit and the Jets "will put on the block the rights to 2,000 lower-level seats behind the Jets bench near the 50-yard line." StubHub Head of Partnerships & Sports Business Development Danielle Maged said that the team, "using a special Web site called Jetscoachesclub.com, will set a floor price for the licenses." EBay will "receive a commission it negotiated with the Jets rather than charge StubHub's standard 15% fee." Jets Exec VP/Business Operations Matt Higgins said, "These are the best seats in the house, so how do you set a price for them? Let the market decide" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/17).
ROAD TRIP: In Milwaukee, Jeff Potrykus reported Univ. of Wisconsin (UW) football coach Bret Bielema Monday suggested that UW is interested in "moving a future road game to a neutral site, ideally close" to Madison, Wisconsin. Bielema "declined to specify the opponent or the proposed site but the leading candidate" appears to be Northern Illinois Univ. (NIU). A UW official indicated that the "likely site for the game" against NIU would be Soldier Field (JSONLINE.com, 9/15).
PHANTOM MENACE: In Philadelphia, Frank Seravalli reports the AHL Phantoms' stadium plans beyond this season "are still up in the air." The Phantoms play most of their home games at the Wachovia Spectrum, but the arena is scheduled to be "torn down after this season." Earlier reports indicated that Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the Spectrum, was "interested in building a new facility," but now that "isn't necessarily the case." The Phantoms "could play up to half of their 2009-10 home games at the Wachovia Center," but Comcast-Spectacor President & COO Peter Luukko said that there is "no more availability beyond that." Luukko "admitted that the Phantoms still might be relocated if all else fails" (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 9/17).
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