Cost of Yankee Stadium II Goes up to 1.3 billion dollars!!!!!

I'll bet you the cost of Yankee Stadium II will inch up to $1.5-2.0 billion before it opens next year. More bells & whistles will be put into this ballpark. I wonder where George is going to get the money to pay for the extras ? ? ? $138 million extra in food costs? Are they going to kill the cattle & chicken on site for all of the hot dogs/hamburgers/chicken sandwiches they will be selling their?

BOTTOM LINE: Yeah, the sign is already up, but I wouldn't be surprised if George was thinking about naming rights ( ________________ at Yankee Stadium or Yankee Stadium at _________________ ). He would make a killing I think if he choose to go that route (though many fans would hate it I'm sure).


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Martini bar, other amenities help drive cost of Yanks' new home to $1.3B

NEW YORK -- The new Yankee Stadium will have party suites, a members-only restaurant, a martini bar and a price tag to match all the luxury -- $1.3 billion, up from the original estimate of $1 billion.


"We tried to reflect a five-star hotel and put a ballfield in the middle," said Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost, who hosted a media tour Thursday.



The new ballpark, set to be ready for the 2009 season, is directly across the street from the old House that Ruth Built. The site is now a welter of cranes and construction trailers, with hard-hatted workers patrolling the infield.

The granite and limestone exterior is designed to evoke Yankee Stadium when it opened in 1923, before it was remodeled in the 1970s.

But inside there will be amenities unheard of in Babe Ruth's day -- or in Reggie Jackson's.

There will be a conference area with video conferencing so that a corporate group could have a daylong meeting and then stay for a game. A concierge will be available to procure theater tickets or restaurant reservations.


There will be 51 luxury suites, two large outdoor suites and eight party suites with seating for up to 410 people in total.

The 58-by-103-foot center field television screen will be six times the size of the video screen at the current stadium.


The dimensions of the field will be the same as at the old ballpark, which will be partially demolished.

Trost said the cost overruns included $150 million in enhancements such as the giant video screen, $138 million in food and beverage costs not included in the original estimate and $50 million from delays due to a lawsuit by community groups that sought to halt construction of the stadium.

The community groups sued because two city parks were razed to make way for the new stadium. The Yankees have said the lost parkland would be replaced at the site of the old stadium and elsewhere in the Bronx.

Asked if the Yankees had been securing additional financing, Trost said, "We will be."

The Mets' new ballpark, CitiField, remains on budget at $800 million and on schedule to open in 2009. While the new Yankee Stadium will hold about 53,000 fans, CitiField will have a capacity of approximately 42,500.

 

If you build it, the cost will soar...

 

yeah, but they've got a kick ass field drainage system.

 

Don't they make like half a billion in profit every year as a result of their TV network and such? I don't think the cost is an issue for King George.