In DC, Scott Allen noted FedExField will host a Brazil-El Salvador friendly on Sept. 11, which "won’t do anything to help the condition of what has been one of the NFL’s most unsightly ... playing surfaces in recent years." The match comes five days before the Redksins' regular-season home opener against the Colts. Real Madrid and Juventus played on the "new turf in Saturday’s International Champions Cup friendly," while the Redskins play a pair of "preseason games at the stadium later this month, and Maryland will play Texas in a college football showdown there Sept. 1." That is a "fair amount of wear and tear before the NFL regular season even begins" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/3).
THE RISING SUN: In Phoenix, Jeff Metcalfe reports the $307M Sun Devil Stadium renovation has "reached an important symbolic point," as a "fully connected main concourse ... allows fans, if they choose, to walk full around" the venue. The final major phase of construction being completed now "entailed tearing the east side to the ground for a complete rebuild." Club space on the east side, which does "not include suites like on the west, will be completed" in '19 and will "include a 5,000-square-foot beer garden on the 400 level that will be open this season but not air conditioned until next." Also, office space will be "added on the east side 450 level tied into plans to use the stadium all year for a variety of purposes" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 8/6).
OPEN FOR BUSINESS: In Ft. Lauderdale, Christy Cabrera Chirinos notes the the Univ. of Miami's Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility is "scheduled to open later this month." It is a $34M project that will "house turf fields, coaches offices and a spate of other enhancements for the football team." It will "finally help put" the team "on par with college programs across the nation who've long had similar buildings" (South Florida SUN SENTINEL, 8/5).
