Major League Facilities/Stadiums Report

One of my eclectic interests is maintaining awareness about major league sports' ever changing status about their facilities, arenas, stadiums, and ballparks. I find this more interesting at times than the actual games themselves because it is eternal story of power, manipulation, and money played at one of the highest levels of our nation. By now most teams have gotten new buildings constructed within the last 15 years or so, but there are still a few teams in each league that have not gotten their cookies and candies largely courtesy of taxpayers. Heres an update on those teams.

BASEBALL - This sport has almost reached nirvana. The NY Yankees and NY Mets have broken ground in the Bronx and Queens, respectively, on their new Taj Mahals that will open up in 2009 or 2010. The Oakland Athletics are working towards finishing up the remaining red tape and hope to break ground by next year for a 2011 or 2012 opening of their new building in neighboring Fremont, south of their current home and adjacent to the lucrative San Jose market in the South Bay. The Minnesota Twins look to break ground later this year or early next year with a new open-air ballpark that would open in 2010 in downtown Minneapolis not far from their current home, the 25-year old Metrodome. That just leaves the Florida Marlins, whom are working on the site and financial details of a new ballpark in downtown Miami with a planned opening by 2011. There is scuttlebutt about other teams looking at alternatives to where they are at now such as Toronto, Tampa Bay, and Los Angeles, but these are probably groundless at this point. 29 out of the 30 clubs have their building status in great shape or will shortly. Now we can look forward to expansion with Portland, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Birmingham, Nashville, Charlotte, Orlando, Norfolk, and Buffalo as new potential markets for MLB as the sport grows to 36 clubs by 2020.

FOOTBALL -- The NFL has done a remarkable job getting cities and states to ante up for buildings that are exclusive for football and thus get used 10-15 times per year at best. There remains a number of NFL teams that have yet to get their new building. The Oakland Raiders will probably start rattling their sabers in the next few years for a new building, particularly after their current co-tenants, the Athletics, depart for their own new building. The Raiders will hope that by that time the cross-bay rival San Francisco 49ers will have their building open in Santa Clara or still in San Francisco, probably by 2012. The Raiders may share until they get their new building by 2014. Down the coast, the San Diego Chargers are working on getting a new stadium somewhere in San Diego County. The club is hoping to have a site decided on by years end and to break ground by 2009 with a 2011 opening. The Minnesota Vikings are at square one with their stadium dreams. With the Twins and University of Minnesota Gophers getting priority on new facilities, the Vikings will probably have to wait which may become a concern for Minnesotans wary of new taxes and the peril of the team fleeing the Twin Cities for a market with a new state of the art building. Meanwhile, the NY Giants and NY Jets have broken ground on a new facility they will share in the Meadowlands near the existing Giants Stadium which will open in 2010. Dallas has construction underway in Arlington with an opening date in 2009 for their new stadium. New Orleans remains a question mark longterm with questions largely due to what has happened to the city and the bigger picture. With Lamar Hunt's death, there could be a change in circumstances with the Kansas City Chiefs. And the World Champion Indianapolis Colts' new stadium is under construction and will open in 2009. Teams rumored to be looking a better buildings or new homes besides the Saints include the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins. As the NFL expands to 40 teams by 2025-2030, cities that will be in the running for one of those new teams includes San Antonio, Birmingham, Memphis, Portland, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, Louisville, Norfolk, Orlando, Sacramento, Honolulu, and with the biggest prize, two teams in the Los Angeles market.

HOCKEY -- The NHL, much like MLB, is fairly close to nirvana with respect to their buildings. Only a few clubs are angling for new building. Among them are both the New York Rangers and New York Islanders, both whom are still in the talking stage about replacing their current buildings in Manhattan and Uniondale, Long Island. A crisis is already underway in the Steel City where the Pittsburgh Penguins will abandon the aging Mellon Arena for greener pastures, possibly in Kansas City. Pennsylvania politicos will have to scramble to keep this potential move from happening, perhaps in as soon as 45-60 days. The Edmonton Oilers want a new building within the next several years. The New Jersey Devils have a new building under construction in Newark that will open later this year. And the Detroit RedWings may start looking for a newer building in the coming years. The remaining 24 clubs are in newer buildings already. With the NHL looking to grow to 36 teams by 2020, cities that look to become members of the league include Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego, Las Vegas, Houston, Milwaukee, Winnipeg, Oklahoma City, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Anchorage, Hamilton, Windsor-Kitchener, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Indianapolis.

BASKETBALL -- More than a few teams in the NBA are angling for new arenas and some of these teams are already in newer buildings constructed within the last decade or so. The Orlando Magic are close to having an agreement with government on construction of a new arena while the Sacramento Kings and Seattle Supersonics are pressing hard for new buildings of their own and threatening to relocate if they don't get their way. The Milwaukee Bucks are pointed in this same direction. The New York Knickerbockers want Madison Square Garden replaced with a brand new state-of-the-art palace in Central Manhattan. The New Jersey Nets have just broken ground on a new building in Brooklyn. The New Orleans Hornets plan to return full-time to the Crescent City but that does not appear to be set in stone for the longterm, much the same as their football brethern Saints. And the Memphis Grizzlies may be seeking greener pastures within a few years. The other 22 clubs look to be set as of now. The NBA looks to expand to 36 teams by 2020 which puts Norfolk, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, El Paso, Las Vegas, St Louis, and San Diego as cities hopeful for expansion clubs with San Jose and Anaheim looking to be relocation markets.

It sure appears that the treachery and greed by professional sports owners and their collaborators in corporate America and government will continue to exploit taxpayers to have fancy expensive new buildings constructed for many years to come.