In West Palm Beach, Hal Habib notes while the Dolphins "have made it clear that with renovations to Sun Life Stadium, seating will be reduced from about 75,000 to 65,000," that "doesn’t necessarily mean 'capacity' will be 65,000." Dolphins Senior VP & CRO Jeremy Walls this week said that the club "has the option of selling a limited number of standing-room-only tickets, presumably for high-demand games." Fans "purchasing such tickets would have access to the four concession/bar terraces, under the new video replay boards to be installed in each corner of the stadium, on the 300 level" (PALM BEACH POST, 2/27).
TRAINING DAY: In Richmond, Graham Moomaw reported the Richmond Economic Development Authority on Wednesday voted to pay the Redskins $285,538 to "cover a second straight shortfall in the required local contribution to the team for holding its annual training camp" there. The deal that brought the Redskins to Richmond in '13 "requires an annual local contribution of $500,000 to help defray some of the team’s costs." If the authority "chose not to find the cash to make up the shortfall for the 2014 training camp, the Redskins would have been able to walk away from the Richmond deal" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 2/26).
GROWING TUNDRA: In Green Bay, Richard Ryman reports the Packers paid $2.8M for the Road Star Inn near Lambeau Field, "the last piece of property they need to give them sole ownership of a key block they plan to develop." The 63-room hotel "is the final property the Packers acquired in the block bounded by Lombardi Avenue, South Ridge Road, Brookwood Drive and Marlee Lane." The area has been designated for the Packers' "income-producing commercial development" (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE, 2/27).
FADE TO BLACK: An OAKLAND TRIBUNE editorial on the Raiders' stadium efforts stated, "We simply can’t support using public funds to keep the team here.” While there “might be some reasonable city expenses associated with a major stadium project, this should not be allowed to become the proverbial slippery slope” (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 2/26). A SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS editorial is written under the header, “Oakland Would Be Crazy To Put Up Public Money For Raiders. Again.” It would be like "paying an abusive partner not to leave you" (SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 2/27).
