Venue News: Yankee Stadium To Host First Soccer Match; Lightning Score HD Upgrade

Chelsea of England will play Paris Saint Germain of France on Sunday July 22 in the first soccer game at the new Yankee Stadium. The match at Yankee Stadium, which is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. Eastern, is an exhibition. The French club is scheduled to play the Montreal Impact of Major League Soccer only two days later in Quebec, if the club wins the French title. The original Yankee Stadium has long been a popular site for major international and domestic soccer matches. The stadium hosted its first soccer game in June 1931 when Glasgow Celtic played a soccer team called the New York Yankees. Domestically, the New York Skyliners, the Generals, and the Cosmos also called the stadium home for a time…

…The Tampa Bay Lightning recently tapped Daktronics to complete a high-definition arena upgrade. According to the company, the new display at the Tampa Bay Times Forum will be the largest center-hung high-definition video display in any area in the U.S. or Canada. The new suspended video display system will include four large video displays. Two of the video displays will measure about 28 feet high by 50 feet wide. Two other displays measuring about 28 feet high by 20 feet wide will be suspended at the ends of the larger displays…

…A new plan for how to build an arena in downtown Sacramento is now expected in June, Mayor Kevin Johnson said Tuesday. Johnson had initially said he hoped to offer an update to the City Council as early as May 8. The mayor said he had recently met with Tim Leiweke, CEO of AEG Worldwide, an arena management company based in Los Angeles; however, according to Johnson, “they could not make a commitment, obviously.” Since an arena-funding deal with the owners of the Sacramento Kings fell apart last month, the city has been preliminarily studying the example of Kansas City, which built an arena in 2007 without a sports team tenant…

…The Players Championship wants the new concession space near the famous 17th hole to remind fans of a New York-style lounge. Nolet’s Silver Lounge is hoping to provide fans at The Players this week with a completely different feel than what they’re used to on a golf course.  Since the tournament moved out of its March date, when the weather in north Florida was far less predictable, to the warmer days of May, the PGA Tour has been challenged to keep fans cool in temperatures that often approach or exceed 90. The new Nolet-sponsored space will be the second air-conditioned space on the course that doesn’t require a premium ticket. Nolet’s lounge will be next to the covered, open-air Oasis at the par-3 17th hole…

…SportsBusiness Journal shows how venues get creative with concession areas, turning underperforming and underutilized spaces into revenue machine.