Minnesota United FC’s new $250 million Allianz Field will make its MLS debut April 13 in a nationally televised match vs. NYCFC.Minnesota United FC
A tennis complex at an NFL stadium, March Madness in a rodeo arena, a see-through stadium, the most expensive minor league ballpark ever built, a superspeedway overhaul and an esports arena are among the diverse list of construction projects scheduled to conclude this year, according to Sports Business Journal’s annual venue preview.
Sports facilities scheduled to open in the United States and Canada in 2019 are expected to tally nearly $3.9 billion in construction costs, led by a near-record year for arenas. Overall, however, this year’s total represents a 21 percent drop from the $4.9 billion that was spent on projects that opened in 2018.
Derek Cunz, senior vice president and general manager of sports and entertainment at Mortenson Co., said the complexity of building a sports venue lends itself to a cyclical market.
“All these projects are big, complicated projects,” Cunz said. “They are different than any other project type in terms of the pace. Office buildings, hospitals, hotels, for example, are built on a floor-by-floor basis, with a pretty linear construction. You know, once you get to the third or fourth floor you are just repeating. Sports construction has very little repetition.”
Nearly three quarters of the $2.1 billion spent on arenas this year will come from two new buildings. First is the Golden State Warriors’ new $1 billion Chase Center, which will open this fall in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco. The venue’s architectural team consists of Manica, Kendall Heaton and Gensler, while construction is being handled by a collaboration of Mortenson and Clark Construction.
Second is the $540 million Dickies Arena, which will open in November. It will host the annual Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo and has already lined up multiple NCAA postseason events. It was designed by HKS alongside David M. Schwarz Architects, with construction being led by The Beck Group.
The Golden State Warriors move across the Bay to the $1 billion Chase Center in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood in September.Golden State Warriors
Adding to the arena total will be the opening of the $65 million Gateway Center at College Park (Ga.), which will be home to the Atlanta Hawks’ G League affiliate. It is the fourth year in a row that a new arena has opened for a G League team.
On the stadium side, a $297 million renovation of USC’s soon-to-be-called United Airlines Memorial Coliseum will make the venue NFL-ready. Minnesota United FC will become the sixth MLS franchise in the last five years to open a new home when the translucent $250 million Allianz Field debuts this spring.
Construction in college baseball is also picking up steam. This year’s $64 million remodel of Mississippi State’s Dudy Noble Field will set the mark as the most expensive college baseball project of all time.
Finally, training facilities for professional and college teams, like the $65 million, Rossetti-designed Henry Ford Detroit Pistons Performance Center and the Buffalo Bills’ $18 million, Populous-designed ADPRO Sports Training Center, both of which will open this year, continue to bring sports construction beyond the playing field.
Sports Business Journal research indicates that this year’s spending decline will be temporary, as $14.1 billion has already been allocated for projects scheduled to open next year or later.
In 2020, record-high totals have been earmarked for stadiums at the major ($5.8 billion) and minor league ($506 million) levels.
“It is really rare to have major facility activity going on in every single league at the same time,” said Cunz, whose company is building big league venues in San Francisco, Seattle, Nashville and Las Vegas.
Two NFL stadiums (in Los Angeles and Las Vegas) and an MLB ballpark (in Arlington, Texas) are scheduled to open next year. Additionally, soccer will continue to help drive that spend, as more than $1 billion in various stages of development is underway in Cincinnati, Columbus, Miami, Nashville and Austin, Texas.
