Venue News: Cal Works Feverishly to Ready Memorial Stadium; Coyotes Arena Lease Approved

Construction crews are working up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week, to finish the $321 million makeover of Memorial Stadium before Cal’s home football opener Sept. 1. One subcontractor on the job, who spoke on the condition that he not be named, told us he’d be “very surprised” if the stadium is done on time. The subcontractor identified a list of items that have proceeded slowly — everything from putting in the field to fireproofing the press box. Those types of delays set everything else back, he said. University spokeswoman Christine Shaff acknowledged that there had been obstacles in fireproofing the press box, saying cold weather lengthened the special paint’s already long curing time and that fire inspectors required extra coats. As for the playing field, where a new drainage system is being installed, she said the work had been “delayed slightly” by late spring rains and wet soil…

…Glendale’s City Council has approved a 20-year lease agreement for Job-ing.com Arena, clearing the last major hurdle in the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes to a group led by former San Jose Sharks CEO Greg Jamison. The 20-year, $325 million lease agreement was ratified by a 4-2 vote on Friday after a meeting of more than six hours that was attended by Jamison and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. The Coyotes have reached the playoffs each of the past three years without an owner, including their first trip to the Western Conference finals this season. The vote took place after a district court judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order filed by conservative watchdog group Gold-water Institute on Friday morning…

…The Tennessee Titans have signed a 10-year deal with ANC Sports Enterprises tied to the installation of the NFL’s second-largest video screens at LP Field. The two high-definition end zone boards both measure 157 feet wide and 54 feet high, the NFL’s second-biggest screens behind Cowboys Stadium’s center-hung unit. They will be in operation by Aug. 23, the Titans’ first preseason home game against Arizona on ESPN. The two boards are the first 16-millimeter, surface-mount diode displays in the NFL, according to ANC Sports officials.  The Titans’ partnership with ANC Sports, a video software supplier, covers the boards’ operation and maintenance, content creation and consulting on display use. The two groups are working together to develop game-day presentations connected to more than 24,000 square feet of LED display space. The two main screens are linked to more than 1,300 linear feet of 20-millimeter LED fascia boards…

…The St. Louis Rams and the city of St. Louis are engaged in a fight over how much the city should have to pay to renovate the 17-year-old Edward Jones Dome. When the Rams signed their lease back in 1995, both sides agreed that by 2015, the stadium must be a “first-tier” stadium, or among the top 25 percent of NFL stadiums. Just what constitutes a “first-tier” stadium is the multi-million dollar question. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Dome must be deemed first tier in each of 15 categories, though the lease doesn’t spell exactly what would make each of those areas first tier.

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