Venue News: Farmers Field Gets Redesign; Vikings Launch New Stadium Media Blitz

Architects of Farmers Field have redesigned the proposed Los Angeles NFL stadium, creating a lighter-appearing venue with a new deployable roof that will be used minimally. The stadium differs from the original concept released earlier this year, adding a nearly clear covering that was used on the signature Bird’s Nest at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Vacated, the deployable roof leaves “flight-like” wing coverings at the roof line to allow for increased openness. According to Icon Venue Group, which is overseeing the design, the deployable roof can be taken off and stored “in a matter of hours.” The home NFL team will determine whether to leave the roof on or not, said a spokesman for stadium developer AEG. According to officials, stadium builders are on target to submit an environmental impact report in January, hopeful of approval by the summer, with groundbreaking next year and the ability to play regular-season games for the 2016 season…

…The Vikings have launched a six-figure, month-long media blitz of television, radio, print, and online ads aimed at building public support for a new stadium. The elaborate campaign started on Monday night, when hundreds of thousands of fans tuned in to the team’s nationally televised border battle with the Green Bay Packers and saw an ad featuring iconic images of the Vikings and a voice that boomed: “This is our team. This is our state. This is our home.” The ad also told viewers the stadium would be “owned by the great state of Minnesota” and would bring “over 7,000 jobs and $300 million in wages.” The ads’ scripts do not explicitly promote the Vikings’ preferred Arden Hills site, although the scripts do briefly show an artist’s rendering of a stadium at the Ramsey County location. Minneapolis, the team’s current home, has proposed three possible sites for a new stadium…

…Officials at the highest levels of the Miami Marlins are discussing ways the recently rebranded team can make full use of its Little Havana ballpark, including the possibility of another bowl game in South Florida. Miami-Dade County is already home to the Orange Bowl (game, not stadium — that was demolished in 2008), and is also in the rotation to periodically host the BCS National Championship Game (which returns in 2013). But the as-of-now-unnamed baseball stadium could become a player for a minor bowl, considering the facility’s 37,000-person capacity — the perfect size for a matchup of non-power conference teams. Set to open in April 2012, the stadium will be used predominantly for baseball during its inaugural season. But beginning next November, Marlins execs hope to book concerts, boxing matches, conventions — and even basketball and football games. The facility, which was built largely with public funding, could make a bid to host a future Final Four…

… The Jefferson County leg­islative delegation sent a let­ter to the University of Ala­bama System Board of Trustees on Tuesday asking the board to reconsider its decision not to discuss an on-campus football stadium at UAB. The letter was signed by all eight state senators and 16 of the 17 state representatives. The letter came after the board did not publicly dis­cuss UAB’s proposal for a horseshoe-shaped, on-cam­pus football stadium that would include more than 25,000 permanent seats and overall seating for approxi­mately 30,000. UAB officials were surprised when the stadium was not included on the agenda for the board of trustees’ meeting on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 in Tuscaloosa. When it decided not to entertain the proposal, the board issued a written statement explaining that the majority of the board believes that an on-campus football stadium is not in the best interest of UAB, the University System, or the state.