In K.C., Timothy Finn reported a "big score has already been made" at under-construction Livestrong Sporting Park, which this summer will host the 26th annual Farm Aid concert. The all-day show to benefit U.S. family farmers will be held Aug. 13 at Sporting KC's new stadium, which has a 25,000-person capacity. The Dave Matthews Band, Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp "will perform" at this year's concert (K.C. STAR, 5/12).
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Real Salt Lake breaks ground on new
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PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: In Utah, James Edward reports MLS Real Salt Lake "held a ceremonial groundbreaking Thursday in Sandy for America First Field, a state-of-the-art practice facility that will be an exact replica of the playing surface at Rio Tinto Stadium." RSL Owner Dave Checketts, co-Owner Dell Loy Hansen, President Bill Manning, Sandy City Mayor Tom Dolan and American First Credit Union CEO Rick Craig "were among those on hand for the announcement." AFCU "owns the land, and is leasing it to Real Salt Lake for at least the next five years." After a "three-month process to prepare the site for 110,000-square feet of natural grass, the same seed that is at Rio Tinto Stadium will be planted at America First Field" (DESERET NEWS, 5/13).
TAKING CHARGE: In San Diego, Weisberg & Showley report Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani and former Centre City Development Chair Fred Maas "have lately spoken of incorporating convention space into a new downtown stadium that could be built between Petco Park and the convention center." Fabiani said, "You’ve got to look at the experience in other cities. Certainly the experience in Indianapolis would indicate combining a convention center-related facility with a stadium with a roof is cheaper than building all these things separately." He said that the Chargers' plan "would cost $800 million with a roof, not counting $150 million the city’s downtown redevelopment agency has budgeted for site development at an East Village several blocks east of Petco" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 5/13).
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION? In Pasadena, Thomas Himes reports the Riverside County (Calif.) Board of Supervisors this week in a unanimous vote "passed a resolution that praised" Majestic Realty Chair & CEO Ed Roski's "Grand Crossing" NFL stadium plan, while "offering scathing criticisms" of AEG's competing Farmers Field project in downtown L.A. The resolution "adopted many of the same talking points and buzz phrases Roski's camp has offered over the past year." Himes notes "what effect, if any, the Riverside endorsement of officials in a neighboring county will have on a stadium in Los Angeles County is unclear" (PASADENA STAR-NEWS, 5/13).
