A Back-to-School Check-in On Nine Active Sports Facility Projects
Por Bret McCormick
A new school year means a new sports facility update list!
Here is the latest on nine active — or about to be — sports venue and facility projects:
A’s Las Vegas stadium
This $1.75 billion project feels like it’s flying; the second of five steel trusses has already been erected over top of what’s essentially a completed stadium bowl.
The stadium will be done in 2028. It’s designers are Bjarke Ingels Group and HNTB, and its builders are Mortenson and McCarthy. CAA Icon is the owners’ rep.
Arizona Cardinals’ team HQ/practice facility
The site of the Cardinals’ future $200 million team headquarters, practice facility and a mixed-use development is graded, and concrete is already being poured.
An interesting recent episode of a Mortenson mini-doc about the project noted that 300,000 cubic yards of dirt have been moved, enough to fill the team’s home, State Farm Stadium, to its roof. And that roughly 250 native plants and trees have been harvested from the area and are being maintained for the project’s duration before being replanted throughout the site when the facility is finished in the fall of 2028. Neat!
Also note that Ralph Ireland was hired as CEO of Cardinals-affiliated Rawhide Development in late July and will oversee all aspects of the 217-acre mixed-use development, including the Cardinals’ 30-acre portion (designed by Rossetti, now HOK).
Chase Field
Staying in Arizona, Mark Winkleman was hired in August as CEO and executive director of the Maricopa County Stadium District. The district entity has existed since 1991 but was in disuse for much of that time. It was reactivated and repurposed by the 2025 state funding bill to provide quasi-governmental oversight of Phoenix’s Chase Field, its renovation and ongoing operations.
Winkleman’s hiring is notable because he’ll be centrally involved in negotiations between the D-backs and the district on a new long-term lease. Per the state bill, Chase Field renovations (up to $500 million is available from the state) can’t commence until that happens.
In the meantime, Okland Construction was selected for the 2026-27 construction work, beating out AECOM Hunt, PCL, Mortenson, Pimmex-Chasse, and Hoffman.
GE Vernova Park
Maybe you saw the renderings of GE Vernova Park with its unique Italianate facade? The Greenville, S.C., stadium, home to USL club Greenville Triumph, opened this summer with 4,000 seats and will expand to 6,300 by the 2027 USL season.
The project, part of the BridgeWay Station mixed-use development, will cost roughly $35 million. It was designed by Johnston Design Group and built by Edifice Construction; McCullers Group is the owners’ rep.
James T. Morris Arena
The University of Indiana-Indianapolis’ $110 million, 4,500-capacity arena project is well underway and tracking toward opening later this year.
It’ll host the university’s NCAA D-I basketball and volleyball events while housing training facilities, athletics offices and office space for USA Track and Field, which is based in Indy. The building was designed by Ratio and built by Wilhelm Construction.
Jordan-Hare Stadium north end zone
Jordan-Hare Stadium’s north end zone won’t be closed this fall, but space will be constricted as the $323 million addition to that side of the 87-year-old stadium commences in earnest, starting with foundation work.
The project, the largest in Auburn athletics history, includes a seven-story structure holding more than 3,000 premium seats for football games, a food hall for daily use, whether during football games or outside game days, and other flexible event-hosting spaces. A new plaza will be built outside the venue as well, with 2029 full project completion targeted.
Contractor Brasfield and Gorrie recently won a public bid to build the project, which was designed by HOK, along with CDFL Architects + Engineers and Workshop Architects. Construction will begin in a few weeks, according to Auburn Deputy AD Rhett Hobart.
Kia Center
All the focus recently in Orlando has been on Camping World Stadium, but there was money to renovate Kia Center, too. Quite a lot, in fact.
Over a 10-year stretch, $226 million will be poured into the arena that opened in 2010, much of it back-of-house. Last summer, the home of the Magic received a new sound system, video boards and control room infrastructure.
The city-owned arena has also partnered with Prevent Advisors to consult on addressing and enhancing the venue’s security systems and protocols.
And lastly, and falling firmly in the “unsexy but very necessary” category, Kia Center is getting roughly 14,300 yards of new carpet, much of it in the venue’s premium areas. Wipe your feet next time you visit, please.
Macon Arena
The PBK-designed, $225 million arena broke ground in late July after the first renderings — striking ones, I must say — came out the previous month.
MFA Program Management, which just completed Memphis’ Simmons Bank Liberty Bowl addition, is the owners’ rep, and Barton Malow (which also worked on the Liberty Bowl) and Sheridan are handling construction. The arena will open in late 2028 and replace the 60-year-old Macon Coliseum, which was also built by Sheridan.
Venezia FC stadium
In Venice, ground was broken on the 18,500-seat Stadio Bosco Dello Sport, the new home of Venezia FC designed by Populous, almost a year ago and the project is halfway to its projected fall 2027 completion.
The club released new renderings Sept. 1, including ones that show the venue’s programmable LED facade. The stadium is being built by Italian firm Costruzioni Bordignon.
Elevate was recently announced as the club’s agency operating partner, assisting it with sponsorship and premium sales and experience center strategy.
