In Sacramento, Tony Bizjak reports NBA and Cal Expo officials this week "met with four major developers for what they call a 'reality check' on their multibillion-dollar concept for a Sacramento Kings arena, a new fairgrounds, and an array of housing, offices and stores on the Expo site." Baltimore-based Moag & Co. CEO John Moag, a consultant working for the NBA on the arena project, said, "What I learned this week is we have a viable project. There wasn't one developer who said, 'You're crazy.'" However, Expo officials said that developers "confirmed their suspicions" that the project "can't happen until the economy improves" ( SACRAMENTO BEE, 7/24 ). SPEED LIMIT : Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS) officials said that tickets for next season's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the track, tentatively set for February 28, "will be the lowest priced in the event's 13-year history." In Las Vegas, Jeff Wolf notes LVMS also "will offer a special payment plan when tickets go on sale Aug. 17." LVMS President Chris Powell: "Given the economy we're in, we felt it was necessary to make a statement that we understand the situation many of our customers are in." Wolf notes this year's race on March 1 was "declared a sellout by the speedway, but the estimated crowd of 140,000 was down" about 10% from '08 ( LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 7/24 ). STILL NOT INTERESTED : A's Owner Lew Wolff said that it is "not likely" the team "will revisit development of a baseball stadium in Fremont" even if auto plant NUMMI closes. The A's, who canceled plans to build a ballpark in Fremont, in recent months have "signaled a desire to move to San Jose." Wolff: "Besides NUMMI being against us, all those homeowners across the freeway were threatening to sue and delay our project" ( SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, 7/24 ). MEN AT WORK : In Milwaukee, Don Walker reports the Bradley Center BOD "will meet early in the fall to decide what needs to be fixed" at the arena, "supported by the promise" of a $5M grant from Wisconsin's Building Commission. New lighting is "needed, a new scoreboard has been talked about, there are seats that need fixing, and there's plenty more to address" ( MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, 7/23 ).
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