Raising the final steel beam into the ceiling of the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)MediaNews Group via Getty Images
From Inglewood, California to Orchard Park, New York, two new venues are currently under construction in North America’s five major professional sports leagues. But there’s a lot more on the way, especially as permits are finalized in Miami, always contentious funding issues spread from Las Vegas to Calgary, and headaches continue in Arizona.
As privately funded venues turn to the norm, professional sports teams continue to press local governments to help fund multi-billion dollar projects, especially when it comes to the NFL. Discover the updates from across North America.
NFL stadiums
Work has begun on New Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, outside of Buffalo. The $1.4 billion project includes $850 million in public funding — $600 million from New York State and $250 million from Erie County.
Buffalo Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.Buffalo Bills
The 62,000-seat Populous-designed venue, located across from the current Highmark Stadium, will be owned by the state (the county owns the current venue) and is expected to be ready for the 2026 NFL season. The Bills have promised a stacked seat shell that offers improved protection from the elements, as well as “extensive radiant heating” to improve fan comfort.
Another publicly funded structure will soon be built in Nashville. There, a $2.1 billion project to build a fully enclosed stadium adjacent to the site of the current facility is not yet under construction, but the Titans believe it will be complete in 2024, with a possible completion date in 2027.
The 60,000-seat indoor venue will replace Nissan Stadium using $500 million from the state of Tennessee and $760 million from tax bonds issued by the Metro Sports Authority to recover via a 1% hotel occupancy tax in Davidson County and a sales tax at the stadium, 50% of sales tax from future development of the stadium campus, and ticket taxes and fees.
NBA arenas
The Los Angeles Clippers will call Inglewood their home in 2024 with the opening of the new, privately funded, $1.2 billion IntuitINTU Dome. The construction work for the opening of the 18,000-seat venue in autumn 2024 is well on its way.
The removal and ceremonial lifting of the final steel beam into the ceiling of the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)MediaNews Group via Getty Images
The AECOM design includes a football-inspired “The Wall” with a steep slope of the 51-row area reminiscent of a fan area in football. Row 20 of The Wall is 45 feet closer – almost a full NBA half-court – than a fan sitting level with the baseline at the team’s current home arena, Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles.
According to Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, the Intuit Dome will also have an acre of scoreboard space, “roughly five times the size of any other arena in the league.”
While the Intuit Dome is the only NBA venue currently under construction, plans are still being made for the 76-seat arena for the Philadelphia 76ers. The $1.3 billion privately funded arena aims to redesign an underutilized mall in the Fashion District and create a local hub on one of the city’s most connected transit hubs.
For a venue not expected to open before 2031, there are still some planning, planning and permitting requirements.
NHL arenas
There isn’t an arena under construction for NHL teams, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t much more discussion, especially since Calgary is close to a funding agreement for a new venue and the Arizona Coyotes don’t have a real home stadium (which they currently play at). . the 5,000-seat Mullet Arena on the Arizona State University campus).
5,000-seat Mullett Arena on the Arizona State University campus. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)Getty Images
Expectations in Calgary are centered on a summer 2023 funding agreement that will see ample public funding for the venue valued at $1.22 billion (CAN). The planned arena for the Flames is located in the city’s Rivers District and is expected to be part of a new cultural and entertainment district.
The Coyotes were evicted from Glendale’s Gila River Arena after the 2021-22 season and efforts to get public support for a new arena in Tempe failed, leaving the Coyotes in a college hockey arena and with an uncertain future .
Talk of a new arena continues in Ottawa, but there’s no exact location, funding, or timeline.
MLB stadiums
The focus of MLB stadiums is Las Vegas, a city without an MLB team. The state of Nevada has already agreed on a $380 million public funding scheme that could bring the Oakland Athletics to the city. This is all part of a $1.2 billion proposal to build a new 30,000-seat stadium on the current Hotel Tropicana Las Vegas site near the Las Vegas Strip.
Vegas for the best.Oakland A’s
While the A’s are technically still in Oakland — the lease expires after the 2024 season — it’s expected that the team will relocate to Las Vegas with Nevada’s financing agreement and owner John Fisher will receive the remainder of the money needed for construction of the new venue, which will also come with a new hotel and casino. Public funds include $180 million in tax credits and $120 million in tax-funded bonds.
In order for the Las Vegas stadium to become a reality, the team must get league approval to move from Oakland to Las Vegas, and Fisher must fund the rest of the venue. Only then will the approval and planning work continue.
Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman has expressed his desire for a new stadium in downtown Kansas City, but there is no location or funding source for this potential $2 billion stadium.
MLS Stadiums
No league has expanded its stadium roster as quickly as MLS over the past decade – with five new stadiums opening in 2021 and 2022 alone – but that pace has finally slowed. Still, there’s more stadium news to come, including in Miami, where construction of the privately funded, $1 billion, 25,000-seat Miami Freedom Park stadium and surrounding development is imminent.
Depiction of Inter Miami’s Miami Freedom Park.
InterMiami
Inter Miami’s future home will take over the now-defunct Melreese Country Club and will retain 58 acres of public parks and green space. The public voted in November 2022 to allow the city to negotiate a lease on the Miami Freedom Park property, allowing the team to secure a 99-year lease on the property near Miami International Airport. Inter Miami hopes to play at the new stadium in 2025.
The next stadium on the horizon for MLS is New York City Football Club’s new Willets Point venue adjacent to Citi Field, which is expected to open in 2027. The privately funded $780 million project for Queens will include a 25,000-seat soccer stadium as part of a new proposed community.
In 2025, MLS will add a 30th team and 30th stadium to its portfolio. Opened in 2022, the 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium, currently home to the San Diego State University football team, will serve as the home of the new team. The university-owned Snapdragon Stadium, located on the site of the former Qualcomm Stadium, was designed in hopes of hosting an MLS team in the future. This future occurs in two years.
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I cover stadiums, sneakers and tennis. I’ve written regularly on design, gear, architecture, and sports for TIME, Sports Illustrated, Popular Mechanics, Wired, and more, from exclusive sit-down articles to chat sneakers with Kobe Bryant, to multiple fashion discussions with Roger Federer, and walks through the halls of today – unopened stadiums with architects to exploring concession menus with chefs. By combining my interest in sports with architecture and design, I cover sports aesthetics. Follow me on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.
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