Venue News: Sacramento Arena Deal Appears Dead; Los Angeles Angels Could Drop ‘of Anaheim’

The commissioner of the National Basketball Association said Friday that the Kings are making a mistake by passing up a good deal on a new $391 million arena in downtown Sacramento. David Stern made his comments shortly after a somber Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced that he and the Kings’ owners, the Maloof family, had failed to reach agreement after two days of last-ditch talks – and that the two sides are too far apart to keep talking about building a facility in the downtown railyard…

…As the Dodgers emerge from bankruptcy, the most compelling baseball story in Los Angeles might well involve how Angels handle their aging ballpark. Angel Stadium turns 50 in 2016, albeit after a substantial makeover in 1997, and the team can exercise an escape clause in their stadium lease in 2016. If they do not, they must remain in Anaheim until 2029. Currently, the Angels and AEG are merchandising partners. If the NFL and AEG cannot make a deal within the next year or two on a proposed stadium, the Angels could be on deck for the site now reserved for Farmers Field. The Dodgers could not challenge an Angels move to Los Angeles, as the San Francisco Giants are blocking the A’s from moving to San Jose. The Giants have exclusive territorial rights to San Jose, while the Dodgers and Angels share an identical territory, including Los Angeles…

…LSU will add new seats to Tiger Stadium, in a south end-zone expansion that will near the football stadium’s capacity to 100,000 people and make it among the largest university stadiums in its conference and across the nation. The Board of Supervisors backed the proposal Friday without objection, approving a $100 million construction plan that includes the stadium enlargement and other athletic facility projects. The plans include adding 60 suites, approximately 3,000 club seats and general seating for up to another 1,500 people above the existing south end zone seats for Death Valley, where the LSU Tigers regularly play to sold-out crowds. Tiger Stadium has a listed seating capacity 92,542. The expansion will give LSU one of the largest stadiums in the Southeastern Conference…

…The estimated $948 million pricetag for a retractable roof stadium for the Atlanta Falcons would probably prove to be significantly low, experts say, adding to questions about how the facility would be paid for. The Falcons and the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, which represents the state, met unveiled a plan to build a $947.7 million stadium with a retractable roof either on a GWCC-owned truck parking lot just north of the Georgia Dome, or at an unspecified site south of the field. The idea of a new stadium isn’t new — the two have been in talks for more than a year — but until this week the leading scenario was for a less-expensive, open-air stadium and the Dome remaining in operation for other events. Under the latest plan, the 20-year-old Dome, which cost $214 million to build (about $396 million in current dollars), would be demolished. With its retractable roof the new stadium would be used for a wide range of events…

…Kansas State Wildcat fans celebrated the groundbreaking of the West Stadium Center, an expansion and renovation of Bill Snyder Family Stadium, at last weekend’s spring game. The 250,000-square-foot facility represents the centerpiece of an overall master plan for improvements to the stadium, designed with the goal of providing the best fan experience in the Big 12. The $75-million project includes the complete replacement of all facilities on the west side of the stadium to include new media and broadcast facilities; new suite, club, and loge seating; new concourses and concessions; and the addition of a K-State Athletics Hall of Honor. The stadium’s grand limestone exterior, drawing inspiration from the existing campus facilities, will become the northwest gateway to campus and will provide a signature image for K-State Athletics and the university at large.