Dodgers Give Name To New Spring Site; White Sox Will Share Facility

The Dodgers and White Sox announced Thursday that their new joint venture Spring Training facility in Glendale, Ariz., will be called "Camelback Ranch."

The 141-acre site is located on Camelback Road just west of the Loop 101. The $80 million baseball facility includes more than 118,000 square feet of Major and Minor League clubhouse space, 13 full baseball fields and three half-fields. The site will feature walking trails, landscaped grounds and an orange grove. There will also be two ponds and a fully stocked lake between the Dodgers and White Sox facilities.

The shared stadium, which will be the focal point of the complex, is the largest in the Cactus League with a capacity of 13,000, which includes 3,000 lawn seats, 12 luxury suites, a party deck and a center-field rotunda entrance.

The Dodgers and White Sox announced plans to move to the Glendale site two years ago, but the White Sox received final clearance only earlier this week when they bought out the remaining three seasons of a contract to train in Tucson, Ariz., for $5 million. The White Sox had been sharing a complex with the Arizona Diamondbacks since 1998 after relocating from Sarasota, Fla.

In addition to serving as the Spring Training home of the White Sox and Dodgers, the campus will become the home for all Dodger Minor League operations throughout the year, including the team's Arizona League entry and Fall Instructional League team. The White Sox also will use Camelback Ranch in Glendale as the home for their Fall Instructional League.

The teams are currently looking for naming rights in the region of $1 million per season for the facility.

Source: MLB

Wizards Get Tax Break To Start New Stadium

The Wizards’ new soccer-specific stadium took one major step toward reality Thursday.

The Missouri Development Finance Board approved $30 million in tax credits toward The Trails development in southeast Kansas City. That clears the way for the LANE4 Property Group and the Wizards’ ownership group, OnGoal LLC, to begin demolition of the old Bannister Mall site and start construction of a $1 billion mixed-use project.

The centerpiece of the project will be the $100 million soccer stadium, seating 18,500, scheduled to open late in the 2010 Major League Soccer season or for the start of the 2011 season.

“It’s a really big day for us,” said Robb Heineman, chief executive officer of OnGoal and president of the Wizards. “It’s huge for us to have this out of the way to make sure the project comes together.

OnGoal is investing about 71 percent of the capital required for the project, which will include the stadium, 12 tournament-quality soccer fields, 590 hotel rooms, 1.13 million square feet of mixed-use retail, 1.7 million square feet of office space and 18,249 parking spaces. Public taxing districts will provide the additional 29 percent, mostly through TIFs.

There are still some details remaining before the wrecking ball hits Bannister Mall, including the purchase of the Sears building, Heineman said.

He also conceded the current economic climate “may impact us a little bit … if you look at the broad credit markets right now, they’re not great.

The Wizards, founded in 1996 by the late Lamar Hunt, played their first 12 seasons at Arrowhead Stadium before taking up temporary residence at CommunityAmerica Ballpark this season for all but one home game that was played at Arrowhead.

Last year, the club moved into a privately financed, $3 million state-of-the-art training center in Swope Park, just minutes from the site of the new stadium project.

Of the 13 other MLS franchises, eight play in soccer-specific stadiums, and the New York Red Bulls have broken ground on a new facility in Harrison, N.J. The Wizards will remain at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, which seats 10,385 for soccer, until the new stadium is completed in 2010.

Source: Kansas City Star

REPORT: Pinkel Close To Long-Term Contract Extension

Missouri officials have told The Kansas City Star they’ll have no comment today but anticipate being able to announce early next week a contract extension for Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel.

For some time now, the extension of Pinkel’s contract has been a foregone conclusion, despite speculation that Pinkel was high on Washington’s list to replace Ty Willingham.

MU athletic director Mike Alden had an athletic department staffer call The Star on Friday that he would be making no immediate comment.

“We could have something early next week,” athletic department spokesperson Chad Moller said.

MU’s acknowledgement of the situation dovetailed with sources telling The Star, ESPN’s Pat Forde and others that a new agreement was imminent.

Reportedly, the agreement -- which would boost Pinkel’s compensation to $2.5 million a year -- is in the hands of attorneys.

Pinkel currently is under contract through 2012 at $1.85 million a year. That currently is fourth in the Big 12 Conference behind Mack Brown of Texas ($2.8 million), Bob Stoops of Oklahoma ($2.65 million) and Mark Mangino of Kansas ($2.3 million).

Pinkel’s new contract would move him back ahead of Mangino in compensation into third in the Big 12.

While Pinkel will be back at Missouri, his offensive and defensive coordinators may not. Multiple sources list offensive coordinator Dave Christensen as the leading candidate as head coach at Wyoming. Toledo officials have spoken with defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus about the Toledo head job.

Source: Kansas City Star

SOLD OUT! No Room At The Q For Arkansas-MSU

The first ever basketball game at the new JQH Arena in Springfield on the campus of Missouri State University is officially sold out according to my sources.

MSU will face the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday night, Nov. 22 in a 7:15 pm tipoff with 11,000-plus in attendance at the $67 million facility.

Standing room only tickets go on sale at 4 pm on Saturday afternoon. The game will be broadcast locally on KTXR-FM 101.3 and Mediacom cable.

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