In Cincinnati, Scott Wartman noted the city and Hamilton County are "close to an agreement" that would give FC Cincinnati the full $35M that they "promised the team for its new stadium's infrastructure needs." The agreement would "allow the city to use" about $17M from its portion of the county hotel tax, to put toward the $35M amount. Stadium construction is "underway, but various issues including a hotel tax dispute have caused delays and team lawyers have publicly said they're worried about the project being completed" by the March '21 deadline (CINCINNATI.com, 6/4).
SOUND CHECK: In Des Moines, Lee Rood notes the city's Wells Fargo Arena will get a new $1.7M "sound system over the summer." Iowa Events Center GM Chris Connolly said that the new Daktronics system "should be in place by October." He added that a new system is needed because there are "places in the arena that people can't hear very well on the old system and technology has come a long way since the arena opened" in '05. Polk County officials yesterday "approved spending for the new system" yesterday (DES MOINES REGISTER, 6/5).
FIVE-STAR FACILITY: YAHOO SPORTS' Pete Thamel noted Northwestern opened its new $270M Walter Athletic Center a year ago, and in the months following that opening, the school has "found itself routinely competing with -- and occasionally beating -- a new caliber of competition" in recruiting "higher-tier" prospects. While Northwestern "isn't suddenly swiping five-stars from Alabama, they have begun to win regional recruiting battles against schools like Notre Dame and the Big Ten teams that they're attempting to leapfrog" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/3).
