27x7 has a Q&A with Sac Sports Commission's John McCasey

[27x7.com]

I thought this board might be interested. He addresses some Hornet Stadium issues as well as some arena topics.
http://www.27x7.com/2011/02/17/10-questions-sac-sports-commission-director-john-mccasey/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Bill Bradley, 27x7.com

 

[Green Cookie Monster]

Thanks Bill.

6. Recently, Sacramento State renovated its football stadium with an all-purpose field. How does that affect attracting events to Sacramento?

A. Actually it does little for us and in fact it has virtually eliminated our bringing major track & field back to the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex. Neither the NCAA nor the IAAF permits synthetic infield surfaces for throwing events rendering the facility out of compliance with the bid requirements.

So, lets rip the track out and lower the field and make it a football only facility? He didnt really say who, what, where or when a new arena at Sac State will be built or renovations to the stadium will be started.

 

[SactoHornetAlum]

McCasey is the biggest drunk blowhard ever! Thank God for the FieldTurf!!! :thumb: :clap:

 

[Green Cookie Monster]

What really does he do? I would have thought he would be front and center in getting facilities at Sac State up to par since the city directly benefits from anything he snags.

Whatever happened to Tsakapalous (sp) and the others who were going to build a new home side with luxury boxes, permananet structure, etc?

Screw track, it brings $0 directly to Sac State.

 

[SDHornet]

Agree with everything above. Building a facility that might draw a big event every 2-4 years is a waste. With the FieldTurf move, Hornet Stadium should have no problem hosting the CIF playoffs every year. If a new Hornet Stadium (30k+) is built, the City could even look at creating a bowl game.

10. What is the future of sports in Sacramento? Does it depend on building new facilities?
A. That is a very wide swath you cut with this question. Sacramento really lacks in facilities. We don’t even have a 5,000-6,000-seat mid-size arena for events such as U.S. Gymnastics or volleyball. Either ARCO is too big or too small. Memorial Auditorum is too small for everything spectator wise. Field spaces are inadequate for large regional or national youth groups for baseball or soccer. No swimming complex to speak of.

Looks like there could be added incentives for getting the new on-campus arena done. A new arena for the Kings would not solve the problem stated above as it would be a large arena with a lot of capacity.