New Sports Venues to Watch in 2024
Multi-use facilities are opening from coast to coast
Posted On: February 29, 2024 By :While the construction of new sports venues never stops, a theme that’s emerging with these multi-million-dollar facilities is being able to use them for much more than one specific sport or event. From the $2 billion Intuit Dome to local venues used for a wide range of youth sports, there’s a variety in the sizes of new venues to watch out for in 2024. As grant money and private investor funds continue to roll in, numerous facilities at all levels are ready to host sporting events and more. Here’s a look at some of the new sports complexes that will be opening around the United States over the next year.
AdventHealth Sports Park at Bluhawk
Overland Park, Kansas
OPENING: Fall 2024
AdventHealth Sports Park is the first phase of a 420,000-square-foot multisport complex with a price tag of $70.6 million. Managed by the Sports Facilities Companies, the Sports Park itself is 260,000 square feet and set to open this fall about 20 minutes from downtown Kansas City. The Sports Park features a 4,000-seat multipurpose arena and also includes an NHL-size ice rink, eight basketball courts (convertible to 16 volleyball/pickleball courts), a 40,000-square-foot turf field, locker rooms, training area, sprinting track and sports medicine center. The connected family entertainment center will be home to an esports center, bowling, laser tag, golf simulators and more.
Circle K Fieldhouse at NexusPark
Columbus, Indiana
OPENING: March 2024
The 150,000-square-foot Circle K Fieldhouse is part of a larger development called NexusPark, which is an effort to redevelop the former FairOaks Mall into a health, wellness and recreation center. The $30.7 million Circle K Fieldhouse can host 12 temporary volleyball courts, 16 high school basketball courts, 40 pickleball courts and 30 high school wrestling mats. The permanent hardwood portion can be set up to host four basketball courts (two high school and two collegiate regulation), eight hardwood volleyball courts and six pickleball courts. The turf area of the facility is 100,000 square feet, enough for a full-size soccer field and two softball/baseball diamonds.
Classic Center Arena
Athens, Georgia
OPENING: Spring 2024
The Classic Center Arena will seat up to 8,500 for concerts, sports tournaments, family shows, conventions and banquets. The $150 million arena will be home to the University of Georgia hockey team, as well as an ECHL expansion team. The venue is connected to The Classic Center and located near downtown restaurants, shops and entertainment. In addition to an NHL-regulation sized hockey rink, the venue will include four volleyball courts and three basketball courts. Other amenities include a sensory room, locker rooms, a private green room for performers and musicians and 26 private suite offerings.
CPKC Stadium
Kansas City
OPENED: March 2024
This is the first stadium purpose-built for a National Women’s Soccer League team — the Kansas City Current — with an expanded capacity of 11,500 along with in-stadium amenities such as a Concourse Club and Scoreboard Bar. The outdoor gathering space located outside of the stadium will be known as CPKC Plaza, which will provide a space for fans to gather before soccer matches and other events. The privately funded stadium at Berkley Riverfront Park costs $117 million and will have a 50-year lease agreement with Port KC. Primary design and construction partners include Kansas City-based Generator Studio, JE Dunn and Monarch Build.
Fishers Event Center
Indianapolis
OPENING: November 2024
The Fishers Event Center is an 8,500-seat entertainment and sporting event venue coming to Fishers District in the winter. The ASM Global venue will be home to the Indy Fuel, the professional hockey minor league affiliate of the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks, as well as the Fishers Freight of the Indoor Football League, which is set to begin play in 2025. The venue will also host basketball games and concerts as the centerpiece of a $550 million retail and entertainment expansion.
Foster Pavilion
Waco, Texas
OPENED: January 2024
After playing 35 seasons inside the Ferrell Center, Baylor’s men’s and women’s basketball teams have moved into a new fieldhouse that seats more than 7,000. The $212 million Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion features two separate premium club spaces at a combined 8,500 square feet — the Courtside Club and Sideline Club — and two 2,000-square-foot videoboards. The Jay and Jenny Allison Development Center, which is attached to Foster Pavilion, includes a private entrance and elevator for players, separate men’s and women’s practice courts, dedicated locker rooms and team lounges, as well as office facilities for coaches and administration.
Frontwave Arena
Oceanside, California
OPENING: Fall 2024
Frontwave Arena is a multi-purpose 7,600-seat indoor arena that will be the new home of the Major Arena Soccer League’s San Diego Sockers, a franchise with 16 championships. The 170,000-square-foot venue has VIP areas including luxury suites, private viewing decks, exclusive lounges, bars and an open-air patio. Three groups in the North County of San Diego are privately funding the project that is expected to cost more than $80 million. In addition to sporting events, Frontwave will also host concerts, comedy and family shows and community events.
Intuit Dome
Inglewood, California
OPENING: Late 2024
Intuit Dome, the new 18,000-seat home to the Los Angeles Clippers, will be the centerpiece of a $1.8 billion sports complex on a 26-acre site that includes a practice facility, sports medicine clinic, team offices, a parking garage and an outdoor plaza complete with concert stage. The site also includes community basketball courts and gathering spaces. Intuit Dome will showcase a continuous 360-degree, almost full-acre-sized videoboard, called the Halo Board, with the largest double-sided ring of LED displays ever in an arena setting. Since it sits less than a mile from the San Andreas fault, the massive structure has a built-in seismic design for earthquake safety.
Jane and David Ott Center
Philadelphia
OPENING: May 2024
This 72,000-square-foot facility will become the new hub for Penn University’s track and field program. The $70 million project will feature a banked track, long and high jump pits, a throwing area and roughly 1,000 spectator seats. The venue will host the Penn Relays and other NCAA outdoor track and field competitions. The Ott Center will also be utilized for the Young Quakers Community Athletics program, Penn Athletics’ partnership to work with middle school youth in the West Philadelphia community.
Love’s Field
Norman, Oklahoma
OPENING: March 2024
The seven-time NCAA champion Oklahoma Sooner softball team will move into its new $47.9 million stadium on the heels of winning its third consecutive national championship. The overall square footage of the Love’s Field complex is 44,000, compared to 15,168 at OU’s present stadium and the 4,200-seat capacity is triple the former stadium. The new Populous-designed venue will feature a 10,669-square-foot indoor training facility, including a training room, locker room and classroom. It will also have space to showcase national championship trophies, All-Americans and other accomplishments. The title sponsor, Love’s Travel Stops, donated $12 million toward the new stadium.
Medlar Field at Lubrano Park
State College, Pennsylvania
OPENING: Spring 2024
The home of Penn State baseball received substantial renovations to several areas of the ballpark. A new high-definition videoboard will feature a 2,739-square-foot screen, which is five times larger than the previous screen. Work began in September to replace the field with new Kentucky bluegrass, while the irrigation system under the field was also upgraded. The plywood outfield fence is replaced by padded walls, a move aimed at increasing player safety. All of the on-field changes will be illuminated by new LED lights that will have the ability to change color and perform light shows. The clubhouses and training rooms are receiving significant facelifts as well.
Meritus Park
Hagerstown, Maryland
OPENING: Spring 2024
This multi-purpose facility will primarily be the home for the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars, a 2024 expansion team in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which is an official MLB Partner League. The stadium will also host other sporting events, outdoor concerts, festivals and community events. The $69.5 million development budget mostly comes from $59.5 million in bonds issued by the Maryland Stadium Authority, which will be paid off with lottery proceeds. The capacity will be 3,500 for baseball games and 4,000 for other events. The stadium will also have eight private suites.
Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance
Seattle
OPENING: Spring 2024
The four-time WNBA Champion Seattle Storm will move into a $64 million state-of-the-art professional basketball performance center that is dedicated solely to female athletes and programmed to provide everything needed to support a WNBA player’s day. Designed by ZGF and Shive Hattery, the two-story, 50,000-square-foot building will include exterior half-courts where the Storm plans to host community-based 3×3 basketball tournaments in the summer. The player level includes practice courts, locker rooms, athletic training and performance areas, strength and conditioning rooms, recovery spaces such as the hydrotherapy pool, sauna, steam room, and kitchen and dining spaces.
Wyo Sports Ranch
Casper, Wyoming
OPENING: Late 2024
Once complete, this 131,000-square-foot youth sports complex will feature six permanent basketball courts and 12 permanent volleyball courts, with the ability to add four additional basketball courts and six more volleyball courts for tournament play. The Wyo Sports Ranch has a permanent indoor multi-use turf sports performance and training center that can host baseball/softball, dance/cheer, mat sports such as wrestling, year-round leagues and summer camps. The $40 million Sports Facilities Companies venue has full-service concessions, lounge areas, Wi-Fi, and ample spectator seating for each court.
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