In Seattle, Jessica Lee reports the King County Board of Health on Thursday "voted unanimously to prohibit smokeless tobacco at professional sports venues," which will take effect May 19. More than a handful of Mariners players "chew tobacco, sometimes during games." But a letter to the BOH said the team is "supportive of a ban." Now, half of all MLB ballparks have "bans on smokeless tobacco for athletes during games" (SEATTLE TIMES, 4/20).
NOT HOME YET: MLS Commissioner Don Garber on Thursday said that NYCFC "continues to look at multiple" sites in N.Y. to build what he described as the "most expensive stadium ever done in MLS." On Long Island, Mike Rose noted NYCFC submitted a bid to "develop the state-owned land at Belmont that was awarded to the Islanders in December." Garber said that Empire State Development "made the right call picking the Islanders over NYCFC" (NEWSDAY, 4/20).
DOING TOO MUCH: In Portland, Ken Goe wrote it is "hard to see" from the renderings for the Univ. of Oregon's proposed Hayward Field renovations "how the stadium will more than double its seating capacity from somewhere between 12,000 and 13,000 to 30,000 simply by filling in around the open north end with temporary bleachers." UO "needed to update the 99-year-old stadium" to host the '21 World Outdoor Championships as scheduled, but whether it needed the "finest track and field stadium in North America for regular season meets" in '22 and thereafter "remains to be seen" (Portland OREGONIAN, 4/19).
