Facility Notes
In N.Y., Tyler Kepner wrote, "It sure seems that the new Yankee Stadium lacks any semblance of the atmosphere that made the original so special. When you saw a game at the old place, you felt like part of a community of fans. ... There was buzz." But the new ballpark "does not have it, and is not set up for it." The fans with the "best seats for batting practice -- and the best access to players for autographs -- simply don't show up or don't care." Kepner: "They might have given up an important edge with the new Yankee Stadium, and I don't know how they'll get it back" (NYTIMES.com, 5/6).
INTO THE WILD: In Minneapolis, Patrick Reusse writes under the header, "Wild Wants Something For Nothing With New 'Pond.'" The Minnesota House earlier this week passed an economic development budget that included forgiving more than $32M of the $48M loan used to build Xcel Energy Center -- "plus millions more -- to build a practice facility for the Wild." St. Paul officials have "attempted to frame this as an economic development project, rather than stating the obvious: The Wild wants a practice facility, and the city knows no other way to deal with the hockey team than kowtowing" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 5/7).
CASH CALL: In New Jersey, John Brennan reports the Jets have notified fans that those in the non-PSL seats at the team's new Meadowlands stadium "must now put up a $500-a-seat deposit -- 16 months before the first regular-season game in September 2010." The notification is "arriving less than a week after" the team's May 1 deadline to renew season tickets for '09. Jets Exec VP/Stadium Development & Finance Thad Sheely said that the deposit is "needed to ensure that fans seeking those seats 'actually complete their purchase'" (Bergen RECORD, 5/7).
|
