The XL Center is now People's Bank Arena. *nm* | Page 14 | The Boneyard

The XL Center is now People's Bank Arena. *nm*

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Republicans and a major union oppose CT Sun investment plan. Lamont is moving ahead anyway

Gov. Ned Lamont is forging ahead with his call to invest pension funds in the Connecticut Sun basketball team, despite opposition by the largest state employee union.

Lamont said Monday that the opposition by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, known as AFSCME, has not changed his mind about the need for investing in a women’s professional basketball team in order to keep the team in Connecticut.

While the team’s future has been uncertain for months, Lamont has been working behind the scenes. He had previously declined to provide details on the amount of money that the pension fund might invest, but he said Monday that it would depend on the exact structure of the deal.

Saying that the market rate for the team is $325 million, Lamont said, “We would maybe do half of that and have others for the other half. If it’s a minority interest that keeps the team more or less where it is, our share would be obviously much less than that.”

The team currently plays at the Mohegan Sun Arena, but one of the proposals calls for the team to play in Hartford at the former XL Center, which is now known as the PeoplesBank Arena.

“The idea of having the Connecticut Sun play here in Connecticut, the birthplace of women’s basketball, is important,” Lamont said when asked by The Courant. “We’ve got several iterations in front of both the Mohegans and the NBA, with whom I’ve had personal conversations. We’ll see where that goes. I just urge everybody — it’s a little tough to negotiate this by press release or with 187 legislators. Give me a chance to see where we’re going to be, and then I’ll be sure that you’ll be at the front of the line to see if you want to do this deal or not.”

 
jostar1 said:
Republicans and a major union oppose CT Sun investment plan. Lamont is moving ahead anyway

Gov. Ned Lamont is forging ahead with his call to invest pension funds in the Connecticut Sun basketball team, despite opposition by the largest state employee union.

Lamont said Monday that the opposition by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, known as AFSCME, has not changed his mind about the need for investing in a women’s professional basketball team in order to keep the team in Connecticut.

While the team’s future has been uncertain for months, Lamont has been working behind the scenes. He had previously declined to provide details on the amount of money that the pension fund might invest, but he said Monday that it would depend on the exact structure of the deal.

Saying that the market rate for the team is $325 million, Lamont said, “We would maybe do half of that and have others for the other half. If it’s a minority interest that keeps the team more or less where it is, our share would be obviously much less than that.”

The team currently plays at the Mohegan Sun Arena, but one of the proposals calls for the team to play in Hartford at the former XL Center, which is now known as the PeoplesBank Arena.

“The idea of having the Connecticut Sun play here in Connecticut, the birthplace of women’s basketball, is important,” Lamont said when asked by The Courant. “We’ve got several iterations in front of both the Mohegans and the NBA, with whom I’ve had personal conversations. We’ll see where that goes. I just urge everybody — it’s a little tough to negotiate this by press release or with 187 legislators. Give me a chance to see where we’re going to be, and then I’ll be sure that you’ll be at the front of the line to see if you want to do this deal or not.”

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Good. Silver and the NBA are being ridiculous on this.
 
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jostar1 said:
Republicans and a major union oppose CT Sun investment plan. Lamont is moving ahead anyway

Gov. Ned Lamont is forging ahead with his call to invest pension funds in the Connecticut Sun basketball team, despite opposition by the largest state employee union.

Lamont said Monday that the opposition by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, known as AFSCME, has not changed his mind about the need for investing in a women’s professional basketball team in order to keep the team in Connecticut.

While the team’s future has been uncertain for months, Lamont has been working behind the scenes. He had previously declined to provide details on the amount of money that the pension fund might invest, but he said Monday that it would depend on the exact structure of the deal.

Saying that the market rate for the team is $325 million, Lamont said, “We would maybe do half of that and have others for the other half. If it’s a minority interest that keeps the team more or less where it is, our share would be obviously much less than that.”

The team currently plays at the Mohegan Sun Arena, but one of the proposals calls for the team to play in Hartford at the former XL Center, which is now known as the PeoplesBank Arena.

“The idea of having the Connecticut Sun play here in Connecticut, the birthplace of women’s basketball, is important,” Lamont said when asked by The Courant. “We’ve got several iterations in front of both the Mohegans and the NBA, with whom I’ve had personal conversations. We’ll see where that goes. I just urge everybody — it’s a little tough to negotiate this by press release or with 187 legislators. Give me a chance to see where we’re going to be, and then I’ll be sure that you’ll be at the front of the line to see if you want to do this deal or not.”

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Can't imagine I'd be particularly thrilled if my pension was being invested in ANY basketball team, tbh.
 
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Debate stretched for a decade on CT arena $145M renovation. Here’s what you’ll find when it reopens.

Event-level bunker suites have been carved out of space once occupied by the arena’s ice-making equipment. A glitzy club for premium ticket holders that can hold 700 has replaced storage areas and meeting rooms. And a 100,000-square-foot exhibition hall — basically rendered obsolete by the construction of Hartford’s convention center 20 years ago — is now the nerve center of the building’s mechanical systems and most storage.

Ben Weiss, OVG general manager for the arena, said concert bookings for the current fiscal year are on a pace to reach 15 or more, 30% more than the typical 7 to 10 concerts a year. OVG said it is possible to eventually reach 30 or more annually.

“We have a different story to tell,” Weiss said. “We have a great story to tell.”

The big-ticket renovation focused on the lower half or “bowl” of the arena.

A major thrust was moving patrons closer to the action with new premium spaces. These include five bunker suites, nearly 50 loge boxes with four to six, cushy armchairs; and the new club with its quartz bar countertops, aluminum paneling and cool, hip lighting.

The renovation included the addition of more modern rigging systems that can handle the increasingly complex concert sound and lighting systems. An automated moveable section of seats for concerts will now allow the stage to be set farther back, which also required carving out a section of the arena.

The change increased the number of seats with views to the stage by 1,500 to about 13,000. That number, OVG has said, will make Peoples Bank Arena the largest concert venue in Connecticut with those views and make it competitive with arenas across North America.

Full story is here:

 
That's a lot of activity for October, getting all the basketball fans, men's ice hockey fans, and the Wolf Pack fans of course. Stevie Nicks will still put butts in the seats too

 
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another look. the lower bowl has new gray seats rather than blue. hey, sometimes lipstick can go a long way. looks like it may be much improved. but this channel 8 anchor speaking, ugh

 
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