The Maricopa County (Ariz.) Board of Supervisors has "formally authorized an athletics district that will be developed to fund capital projects starting with a new" Sun Devil Stadium for Arizona State Univ., and myriad design proposals are "leading to realistic funding options," according to Jeff Metcalfe of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. A decision could be made to “keep the lower bowl of the 54-year-old stadium and rebuild above that level to a new seating capacity between 55,000 and 65,000, lower than the current 71,706.” ASU COO Steve Patterson said the estimated cost is $150-250M, "depending on what elements you ultimately build.” The cost for “stadium shading, in lieu of a roof, is estimated" at $40-50M. Patterson said that funding options “are not only the athletic district ... but increased revenue from the stadium (premium seating, concessions) as well as from Pac-12 media rights and philanthropic donations.” Requests are “being taken for a master developer for the district, but other funding sources are needed for stadium construction to be possible in the near future.” Patterson said that it is “still unknown if ASU would be forced to play elsewhere for a season and if so where.” Other major projects for Patterson and the school “include finalizing contract details with Mesa and the Chicago Cubs for ASU baseball to move from Packard Stadium to the Cubs' $100 million spring-training facility to be built 5 miles east of campus in 2014” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 2/21).
