Venue News: NYCFC Considers Columbia Complex for New Stadium; Drama Surrounding NFL’s Move to Los Angeles Continues

Over the past four years, New York City’s $100 million professional soccer club has bounced from a pier on the Hudson River to a public park in Queens to a factory site in the South Bronx in its relentless search for a permanent home, writes The New York Times. This being New York, where the real estate market is especially frenetic, team officials for New York City FC have looked into two dozen locations. But the latest spot is right back where the club started in 2011: Manhattan. New York City FC, owned jointly by royalty from the United Arab Emirates and the Yankees, is considering a move to Columbia University’s Baker Athletics Complex, at the northern tip of Manhattan. NYCFC is playing its inaugural season at Yankee Stadium — an imperfect solution for both teams that will continue until a new stadium is built…

…Pay no attention to the NFL draft that wrapped up Saturday, writes the San Diego Union-Tribune. The most dangerous man in football this year will continue to be Stan Kroenke, the reclusive billionaire who owns the St. Louis Rams. His plan to spend nearly $2 billion on a two-team stadium in Inglewood, just 10 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, has profoundly upset the balance inside the world’s most lucrative sports league. Chargers president Dean Spanos, who says he wants to stay in San Diego, now must place a huge bet on moving to Carson, with or without the Raiders. San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who was elected thinking he had time to build a political consensus for keeping the team, is now a man in a hurry. The dynamic is roughly the same in Oakland and St. Louis. How can one man create so much drama? Because the NFL is, above all, a business…

…Gov. Scott Walker says a deal on paying for a new downtown arena for the Milwaukee Bucks is close, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Walker added Friday that he still opposes any tax increases — or new taxes — when asked about an additional 1% sales tax for Milwaukee County being proposed by a Milwaukee alderman. “I think we’re close,” Walker said. “But obviously, we have to work out the last little bit of details.” The governor did not provide any details of how the financing might work…

…Wembley Stadium may not be the only London venue in the NFL’s future, according to the Associated Press. Premier League club Tottenham is reportedly interested in hosting an NFL team at its planned new stadium if the NFL puts a full-time franchise in London. British media reported that Tottenham’s stadium could include a retractable playing surface that would allow grass and artificial turf to be alternated for soccer and American football games. That would avoid the damage to the grass turf that has been a problem at some of the NFL games at Wembley. Tottenham’s design for the 400 million pound, 61,000-seat stadium also includes larger locker rooms that could be used by NFL teams…

…Fans that attended Bridgestone Arena for the Predators vs. Blackhawks playoff series were able to experience Beacon technology for the first time, writes SportTechie. Beacon technology allows a fan’s smartphone or mobile device to detect signals via the beacons installed by Radius Networks throughout the arena. The Predators are just one of a few teams to use this new technology at Bridgestone Arena. At each event, these beacons, all 200 or so of them, were programmed to send exclusive content straight to the fans mobile device that passes that location…