adams construction
Stadiums Under Construction
Citi Field, Yankee, Cowboy and TCF Stadia Opening in 2009
Taxpayers are helping Major League Baseball and National Football League teams build multimillion-dollar sports stadiums across the country.
Dedication of a new Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and of Citi Field in Flushing, New York will launch a busy year for new sports stadia in 2009. They will be followed by opening of the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium and the Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The New York Jets and Giants, Minnesota Twins and Florida Marlins also plan to open new stadiums in 2010 and 2011. San Francisco and San Diego hope to build new football stadiums soon and the Oakland Athletics are planning a new baseball home.
Cost estimates for the four facilities opening in 2009 could exceed more than $4 billion in private and government money. Sports stadiums have a long history of cost overruns. Yankee Stadium costs might be reviewed by a Congressional committee.
Stadium Costs and Capacity
Here are cost and capacity figures for the four 2009 facilities drawn from official and other published reports:
Yankee Stadium (52,300)--Up to $1.9 billion.
Citi Field (45,000)--$850 million.
Dallas Cowboy Stadium (80,000)--$1 billion-plus, including $325 million from City of Arlington, $150 million from National Football League and remainder from Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones
TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota (50,300)--$285 million
If costs for Yankee Stadium finish at $1.9 billion, the price runs to more than $36,000 per seat, by far the highest unit cost. The Citi Field and Cowboy seat costs are about half that and the TCF Bank Stadium cost runs about $5400 per seat. Land value and labor costs vary considerably between New York City and the Minnesota university campus.
Seat capacities are just one of several major criteria for today’s modern stadiums. They share priority with VIP suites, team, television and press facilities, parking spaces, stadium access and additional fan amenities such as wider seats, cup holders and restaurants.
The new Yankee Stadium is being built next to the 1923 one nicknamed "the house that (Babe) Ruth built."
Citi Field Designed for Baseball
Citi Field, designed strictly for baseball, will replace the old Shea Stadium that the Mets sometimes shared with football teams.
The Minnesota and Cowboy stadiums are designed to allow future expansion. Seating in the Cowboy stadium may be expanded for the Super Bowl, which has been scheduled there for 2011.
A new Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey is scheduled for opening in 2010. Like the old stadium, it will be the home of both the New York Giants and New York Jets football teams. It will have a capacity of 82,500. Construction cost is estimated at $1.4 billion.
Also scheduled to open in 2010 is the 40,000-seat Minnesota Twins Target Stadium, estimated to cost $412 million
Marlins Will Have Retractable Roof
The City of Miami has been plodding through a series of lawsuits in hopes of opening a new $525 million stadium for the Marlins major league baseball team. The stadium, if finally approved by the courts, will have a retractable roof and a capacity of 37,000.
It was originally scheduled to open in time for the 2011 baseball season, but court fights could delay that debut. As part of the agreement with the city, the Marlins will sign a 35-year contract and change their name from the Florida Marlins to the Miami Marlins.
New stadia do not make everyone happy and often face lawsuits on a variety of issues, including zoning, environmental matters and the dedication of public money needed by other agencies. In most cases, however, the law and voters have sided with the stadium.
In Miami, a judge ruled that 39 years of Marlin existence made it "clear that retaining a professional baseball team in Miami satisfies a paramount public purpose."
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