ESPN.com’s Andrea Adelson noted Florida Citrus Sports CEO Steve Hogan has “not made it a secret that he wants to get back into the neutral-site business” for college football games beginning in ‘15 or ’16, as Florida State, Miami and Florida would be “among the most attractive options, for obvious reasons.” With Orlando’s Citrus Bowl in the middle of a $210M reconstruction, that “should make it more attractive as not only a bowl and neutral-site spot but potentially a College Football Playoff venue.” Florida State, Notre Dame and Florida “all have played neutral-site games at the stadium in the past” (ESPN.com, 5/20).
SOONER OR LATER: ESPN.com’s Jake Trotter cited sources as saying the Oklahoma “plans to put a proposal before its regents next month that would authorize the school to seek construction bids on a renovation project that would close the south side of Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.” Because OU has “yet to seek bids, it's unclear how much the proposed project would cost” (ESPN.com, 5/20).
HOLE IN THE BUCKET? In Nashville, Luke Thompson noted a "large sinkhole was discovered at Austin Peay's Governors Stadium, complicating the project underway to replace the main stadium building.” The sinkhole, which “extends into the north end zone, started out about 3 feet by 5 feet and no more than 5 feet deep when it was discovered nearly a month ago.” But workers have had to “dig it out to be much larger, about 40 feet wide and 40 feet deep, in search of stable bedrock” (TENNESSEAN.com, 5/20).
BULLS ON PARADE: In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg reported city officials “figured to get at least one, if not more" of the four recently awarded ACC baseball tournaments. However, the ACC selected Durham Bulls Athletic Park as the event's site starting in ‘15. Charlotte organizers “believed they had assembled a strong bid and had no explanation for why” the ACC chose Durham over the new uptown $54M BB&T Stadium (BIZJOURNALS.com, 5/18).
