ESPN : Granderson Funds New Stadium For Alma Mater

University of Illinois trustees have agreed to a deal in which New York Yankees star Curtis Granderson will pay for most of a new baseball stadium at his alma mater, the University of Illinois-Chicago. Trustees voted Wednesday to name the new stadium after Granderson, who announced in February that he will donate $5 million to the project. The total cost is projected to be $7 million. The open-air, brick-and-stone stadium will seat 1,200 and is expected to open in 2015. The plan calls for using the field for Flames games and events for Chicago Public Schools and youth organizations.

Nice gesture, especially considering Granderson is in his free agent year, with the Yankees’ budget and his spate of injuries creating some uncertainty about Curtis’ future earnings.

Bloomberg: Win or Lose El Paso Guarantees Baseball Bondholders: Muni Credit

El Paso, Texas, the second-largest U.S. city without a professional sports team, is borrowing $53 million with yields at record lows as it joins municipalities nationwide betting that stadiums will rejuvenate downtowns. [...]  The Tucson team moving to El Paso sold 3,000 tickets per game last year, the lowest attendance in the 16-team Pacific Coast League. El Paso’s team will do better, said Mike Feder, general manager of the Tucson Padres.  “They’ve never had Triple A baseball, their downtown stadium will be fantastic and their ownership group has deep roots in the community,” said Feder, who isn’t moving with the team.

Roopstigo Film: Morganna

Wouldn’t mind seeing her bust in Cooperstown some day.

For nearly three decades, Morganna Roberts, known as the “Kissing Bandit,” ran onto baseball fields and arena floors with her buxom features on display. She famously kissed stars such as Pete Rose, George Brett and Nolan Ryan, becoming MLB’s unofficial mascot and bringing levity to the game. But despite her willingness to flaunt her 60-inched chest and embrace celebrity on late-night shows with Johnny Carson and David Letterman, little is known about Morganna and how she rose to fame. And in a society where celebrities never vanish — see The Apprentice or Dancing With The Stars — why did Morganna just disappear? That’s the mystery of Morganna.

Rosemont Cubs? Suburban mayor makes his pitch

As the Chicago Cubs’ quest for a fair stadium refinancing deal continues to drag on with the Wrigleyville community throwing up roadblocks to slow down the settlement process, a new and potentially viable option to Wrigley Field has emerged.

Rosemont mayor Brad Stephens told me this morning in a CSNChicago exclusive that he is willing to give the Cubs and the Ricketts family a 25-acre parcel of land in the village that is a prime piece of real estate large enough to accommodate a new ballpark as well as parking and anything else the Ricketts family would desire to have as a part of the new complex.

“The Chicago Cubs are being held hostage by the neighborhood as they look to run their business. We are willing to offer them a tremendous opportunity if they are interested. Bring the bricks and the ivy and we can get a deal done, ” Stephens told me this morning.

While this is highly unlikely, I for one encourage this type of press for the Cubs in their fight with the roof top owners.  It’s a shame that there actually is a professional team that is trying to pay for their own stadium and is stuck fighting the city over it.

semi-OT - Florida Senate Approves Measure To Fund Sun Life Upgrades

I reckon Loria learned ‘em well.

The Miami Dolphins are getting early support from state legislators to use tax dollars to renovate Sun Life Stadium.

A Florida Senate panel on Tuesday unanimously approved a measure (SB 306) that would guarantee $3 million a year for the next 30 years to help pay for stadium upgrades. It’s just the first vote, however, with a final vote coming during the session that starts in March.

But the swift approval could be a sign that the Republican-controlled Legislature will support the deal despite past objections to helping out South Florida sports franchises.

How a $91 million loan on the Marlins ballpark will cost Miami-Dade $1.2 billion

The good thing is, at least they got that home run display to show for it.

Miami-Dade will use hotel-tax revenue to pay off the bonds. But payments don’t kick in until 2026. Once they do, they get very costly very quickly. The first payment, for example, totals $260,000. The fifth jumps to almost $8 million and the 10th tops $20 million. Payment No. 18 brings the big hit: $118 million comes due in 2042 alone.

The high interest comes from the penalty Miami-Dade must pay in exchange for a repayment plan that lets the county delay by 15 years making it first debt-service payment to the Wall Street lenders who bought the bonds.

“It’s an expensive way to borrow money,’’ said Frank Hinton, head of the county’s bond program. “You’ve got $1.2 billion to pay back. It is a lot of money.”

Because Miami-Dade couldn’t afford a straight-line paydown of the loan — like a home mortgage — the finance team had to be more creative in borrowing the money on Wall Street. Unlike most bonds, these can’t be repaid back early either.

Mets interested in bringing Major League Soccer to Citi Field

Meet the nets?

The Mets are “very interested and fully capable” of bringing Major League Soccer to Citi Field, City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria) announced Thursday.

The move would boost the baseball team’s coffers and eliminate potential competition from a $300 million MLS soccer stadium proposed for Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

Vallone, who is running for Queens Borough President, said this would be a win-win for soccer fans and open space advocates opposed to another stadium going up in the park.

“We have a state-of-the-art stadium sitting there waiting to be used a few yards away,” Vallone said. “This way we get to keep the parkland and we get Major League Soccer in Queens.”