How North America Landed the 2026 World Cup

The excitement of this year's World Cup is behind us, but North American soccer fans and venue operators can keep their fervor fresh as Canada, Mexico and the United States prepare to jointly host the event in 2026.

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San Diego Takes Issue with Grand Jury's Stadium Stance

A subcommittee of the San Diego City Council on Wednesday disputed recent conclusions of a grand jury assembled to assess the financial management of San Diego County Credit Union Stadium in Mission Valley.

According to KPBS public broadcasting in San Diego, the grand jury report took issue with some aspects of stadium management being assigned to third parties rather than stadium staff. Following the Chargers' departure as the stadium's main tenant, the city contracted with Fox Sports to handle stadium advertising sales and with the San Diego College Bowl Association to sell skybox and luxury suite leases. While the grand jury determined those duties could and should have been handled in house, the city argues that the outsourcing of those tasks, which were beyond the staff's expertise anyway, freed up stadium personnel to focus on booking lucrative events — a strategy that paid dividends.

"In fact, by spending so much time on booking additional stadium events, the city was able to garner $3.7 million in additional revenue above and beyond what was actually budgeted for fiscal year '18," said Lisa Byrne, speaking for the city's office of the Independent Budget Analyst.

Stadium officials had been hopeful that the stadium could finally be profitable without the Chargers, who had collected the lion's share of advertising, concessions, parking and ticket revenue from their NFL home games.

The grand jury further recommended that the city make policies and rules to evaluate future stadium contracts, and the city council and mayor now have until mid-November to accept those recommendations or make a case for refuting them.

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U. of South Carolina Okays Stadium Renovations, Statue Pending final Board of Trustees approval once a design is created, there will be a sculpture of former USC basketball player A'ja Wilson outside Colonial Life Arena one day. read more

New Projects: Butchertown Stadium | Appleton Arena | Legends Aquatic Center Construction began this summer on a $241 million expansion of Rupp Arena at the University of Kentucky. Designed to LEED specifications by architects NBBJ and EOP, the arena will feature an expanded concourse, new chair-back seating to replace upper-level bleachers, member clubs with court-level seating, an atrium entrance with 85-foot ceilings, a new metal-and-glass exterior shell, a climate-controlled bridge connecting the lobby and concourse, and a new public plaza. Improvements are expected to be complete by fall 2021. read more

Mariners Get $135M in Public Funding for Ballpark Washington state's King County Council has approved $135 million in public funding for improvements at Safeco Field where the Seattle Mariners play. read more

Inglewood NFL Stadium Taking Shape Amid steel beams and concrete columns and towering cranes, spread over 300 acres of Inglewood landscape, the grand vision of Los Angeles as the capital of the football world is beginning to take shape. read more

Minnesota Marks Opening of New $13M Track Stadium Instead of celebrating their new, 2,400-seat track and field stadium Monday with a ceremonial first lap, the Gophers could have staged a full marathon. read more

Purchasing Guide: What to Consider When Selecting a Video Board The scoreboard used to be an afterthought. Whether you were sitting in the stands at an NFL stadium or in a college natatorium, the scoreboard was there to give you the essential information — game clock, race time, score, possession — on the event at hand. That's changed as venues at all levels are now upgrading to high-tech video boards. read more