Venue News: Additional Flaws Found at Texas High School’s $60 Million Stadium; UNLV Looking for New Venue Location

A North Texas school district said Thursday that its $60 million high school football stadium has design flaws throughout the facility, with problems in the concourse, press box, and scoreboard, writes the Associated Press. Eagle Stadium, the palatial facility that opened two years ago, had to be closed earlier this year after officials discovered that extensive cracking in the concourse’s concrete was a sign of structural problems. The school district released a summary of a forensics firm’s report Thursday. The firm found problems with the concourse, the structure and support columns of the press box, and the south scoreboard, which features a high-definition video board — one of the major amenities of the stadium…

…UNLV has scrapped its proposed location for its new on-campus football stadium because of concerns about its proximity to McCarran International Airport, according to the Las Vegas Sun. The university is now looking for a new site for its 50,000-seat stadium. Alternative stadium locations include the parking lot of the Thomas & Mack Center and 40 acres of privately owned land at the corner of Koval Lane and Tropicana Avenue. Since UNLV announced plans to build a stadium in 2011, Federal Aviation Administration officials have raised concerns about the facility’s height and proximity to the airport…

…Video of a staircase most people use to get to and from Rio’s famed Maracana stadium shows the structure built atop scaffolding wobbling under the weight of fans who attended the World Cup game between Argentina and Bosnia over the weekend, according to the Associated Press. Fans of various nationalities said Tuesday that they were scared it might come crashing down. The footage shot by a Brazilian photographer showed people packed on the staircase of wooden steps as it swayed, grabbing hand rails to support themselves as they headed via their only exit to a concrete ramp leading to a subway station after the game. The Rio de Janeiro state government issued a statement saying the staircase was inspected following complaints, reinforced and then re-inspected again Tuesday to ensure fan safety.

…AEG will begin a significant installation of iBeacon mobile technology at the Staples Center and L.A. Live complex in Los Angeles, the beginning of what the company intends to be a broad rollout across its portfolio of venues, writes SportsBusiness Journal. Evidence of the company’s bullishness in the concept is that it’s part of the investor group that now holds a majority stake in Gimbal Inc., a San Diego-based company that last month spun off from prior parent company Qualcomm and has been actively working in the space. Qualcomm remains a significant investor, but the spinoff was designed to make Gimbal more agile in what is a fast-evolving space…

…Ground has been broken for the stadium that will be the new home for the Canadian Football League Saskatchewan Roughriders, writes The Hamilton Spectator. Officials from the city, the province and the team were on hand as the first shovel went into the dirt at Evraz Place northwest of downtown Regina Sean Hamblin, district manager of construction company PCL Management, said it will take a few months to notice any above-ground work at the site. More than 300,000 cubic metres of dirt is to be removed over the summer — about 25,000 truckloads of material. The $278-million stadium is to be completed by August 2016.