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January 12, 2009
Sports Business Journal Twofer
This week's Sports Business Journal features a number of stories on the special challenges the severe economic downturn poses for stadium and arena projects. Here are two that feature Brooklyn's favorite mega-boondoggle.
Raising the stakes: Sports facility projects desperate for funding pitch their ideas as vital components for reviving a stalled economy
In the sports industry, where it is difficult even in prosperous times to garner public support for building arenas and stadiums, clubs at the big league level are now faced with trying to push their projects forward in a recession.
The sullen economy and tight credit markets have made it difficult for teams and municipalities to borrow money to fund projects, which in effect has everybody in the facilities industry searching for answers.
...Sports projects still seeking public assistance are now trying to use the recession to their advantage, promoting their plans as a way to generate much-needed jobs.
Others continue to believe in the power of packaging arenas and stadiums with mixed-use development. However, New Jersey Nets owner Bruce Ratner has been trying for five years to secure funding to start building his ambitious $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, N.Y., which would include a new arena for the team.
NoLandGrab: We can rest assured that executives of Forest City Ratner and their accomplices in New York City and State government are working feverishly to get their hands on more public money — while conveniently ignoring the relatively paltry number of jobs that would be created per dollar of public investment.
Sports projects play the waiting game: Financing, land acquisition, legal battles and voter opposition are just a few of the hurdles that have delayed the following sports construction projects
Guess which project heads the list? (Okay, they're listed alphabetically.)
Barclays Center
Proposed location: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Announced: 2003
Projected opening: 2011
Projected cost: $950 million
Tenant: NBA Nets
Current home (built): Izod Center (1981)
Status: Nets owner Bruce Ratner first announced a $4 billion project in Brooklyn that included a $435 million arena to open in the summer of 2006. Construction has yet to begin due to problems with financing and neighborhood opposition. The arena’s price had ballooned to $950 million by March 2008, although team officials told SportsBusiness Journal in December that the venue is on track to open in 2011.
NLG: 2011? Wishing will not make it so.
Posted by eric at January 12, 2009 11:00 AM