Giants Stadium
The Funding Procedure
The Giants website gives the history of the funding procedure whereby the Giants are said to have signed a 30 year lease for a 75,000 seat stadium that would be constructed in the season of 1975. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority was established by an act of the state legislature on May 10, 1971 to provide funding, construct and manage the complex. It was also decided that the facility would include a stadium for football and a racetrack. It is further asserted that through legislature, this authority was granted the power to rent property, borrow money, issue bonds and conduct horse racing. The state was authorized to issue revenue received from the race-track in order to finance the complex. No expense was incurred by the tax payers. Rodriguez (2006) states that the number of taxpayers who have resisted to publicly fund sports facilities has increased. The case of the Giants Stadium construction contrasts this.
Approval
The Giants Website (2009) provides information that accounts on the process that occurred in order for the construction of the stadium to be finally approved. It is stated that the project encountered various obstacles such as legal disputes that occurred as a result of protests against the construction of the complex. There were also protests from environmentalists who expressed concerns about the wildlife and the occurrence of air pollution due to the rising number of cars.
Despite all this, the Authority managed to enable the project to succeed by hiring real estate consultants, accountants, bond attorneys and brokerage firms in order to ensure a smooth process.
Amenities provided
The Giants website (2009) states that during the 2000 season, the grass that was played on was natural whereby the grass was grown in a series of replaceable trays. In 2003, a new state of the art grass field was introduced by FieldTurf. It is said to look like real grass and it has special silica sand, cryogenic rubber and Nike Grind filling which includes sneakers. Drainage is also said to be immediate and the heat, which was a problem with other surfaces has been contained by being isolated by a rubber layer below the surface.
There are two Sony Jombotron color video scoreboards that are located at the top of each end of the stadium that measure 32 x 24 feet. They are supported by two Daktronics Matrix black and white scoreboards in addition to four auxiliary ones.
The sound system is said to possess over 27,000 audio watts where there are 2,100 speakers in the entire system that is fed by more than 47 miles of cable.
The seating capacity is illustrated as being 80,242 whereby the Upper Tier holds a capacity of 32,832 while the Lower Tier is occupied by 34,824 people. In addition, it has a Mezzanine Tier which has a capacity of 8,961 as well as Suites that occupy 2,852 people.
Rich (2000) describes that in addition to the Stadium, there is a 75 million Brendan Byrne Arena that occupies 20,000 people. Also, after the completion of the Giants Stadium, there was an inclusion of office buildings, factories and hotels.
Comparison to other Stadiums
Lacayo (2009) investigates that the Dallas Cowboys Stadium has a huge number of private clubs and bars and a gigantic 600-ton JumboTron scoreboard that soars 90 feet above the field of the stadium, which he describes as a presiding deity. The stadium measures at 3 million square feet and is three times bigger that their previous one. It is reported to be the most costly stadium so far in the NFL (National Football League) at 1.2 billion but this record will be broken by Jet-Giant Stadium which is set to cost 1.6 billion.
The unique quality that the Giants stadium bears in comparison with other stadiums is the fact that it is a complex that has space for football as well as a race track. It also has the unique factor of being 6.9 miles from Times Square compared to the Yankee Stadium which is 6.6 miles away. Another amenity is the possession of state of the art grass that ensures immediate drainage and is also able to contain heat with the aid of a rubber layer located below the surface.
Trumpbour (2007) researches that Kansas City was ahead in devoting its time to providing luxurious stadium amenities thus attracting the media. The stadium owners used 17.5 million of their own money to in order to provide luxurious skyboxes, plus team offices and stadium clubs.
The Cost for the Giants Stadium
Petersen (1989) researches that the cost for constructing the Giants Stadium as 78 million and is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, opening in 1976 after proposals to construct a sports complex in 1967.
Maske (2006) reports that the two teams that share the Giants Stadium, the Giants and the Jets, plan to jointly build a new stadium at the Meadowlands which will probably make them among the wealthiest franchises in the NFL. The two teams that have shared the stadium for 30 years are scheduled to open the privately funded stadium that costs 1.2 billion in the year 2010. Fisher (2002) researches on a statement that contradicts this by stating that almost all professional sports stadiums including those that are privately financed, involve some public money.
Sponsorship Agreements
Sports Business News (2007) gives information on the agreement between the New York Giants Chairman and the Wasserman Media Group for the new stadium in the Meadowlands. Casey Wasserman who is the chairman of WMG is reported as saying that combining the power of the NFL and its reach to the greatest sports teams forms an unparalleled platform for a marketer to form an ally with the most prominent media, entertainment and sports objective in the world. The Chairman of the Jets hopes that WMG will expand their vision and make the stadium the most memorable spectator environment in professional sports.
The Daily News (2008) reports that Anheuser-Busch has signed a contract to become the second major sponsor to support the new Meadowlands stadium. The announcement was made after a provisional agreement was reached between the New Meadowlands Stadium Co. and MetLife therefore becoming one of the four cornerstone partners in the stadium that is said to have 82,500 seats. Experts have stated that each of the partners will pay between 10 million and 15 million. The fifth sponsor will be expected to pay an amount of 20 million for the naming rights of the new stadium.
Jozsa (2004) researches that Manchester United had attracted audiences of about 271,000 spectators at American stadiums in 2003 who were watching exhibition games against European teams. As a result, Manchester United agreed to play another four matches in 2004 in various stadiums. One these stadiums was Giants Stadium.
Conclusion
When the Giants stadium was constructed in 1976, it is said to have cost 78 million compared to the new stadium which is scheduled to open on 2010, that has been privately financed by the Jets and the Giants at a cost of 1.2 billion although this contradicts Lacayo (2009) who states that the stadium will cost 1.6 billion.
The Giants shares the same model of big screen scoreboards with the Dallas Cowboys. It has the unique facility of having state of the art grass that looks real. This new type of grass also has been able to contain heat through the rubber layer that is located beneath the surface.
Zimbalist (2001) investigates that the New York Giants and New York Jets have shared the Giants stadium since the autumn of 1984 after years of competing against each other.
Rouse (2001) researches that 115 of the major professional sports franchises are getting new or renovated facilities. Examples of franchises that have done the former are Dallas Cowboys and the Giants. An example of a frachise that has renovated its stadium is provided by Thornton (2010) who gives that of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim who spent 20 million to renovate their stadium.
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