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News June 11, 2010 PPL Park readies for kick off Philadelphia Business Journal - by John George Staff Writer John George Philadelphia Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz examines the final work being completed at PPL Park. View Larger CHESTER — The area’s first stadium built for soccer is more than 90 percent complete, and the leaders of the team that will play there — Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union — have no doubt the venue will be ready for its scheduled debut June 27. “Everything we’re doing now is the dusting and polishing,” said Nick Sakiewicz, the Union’s CEO. PPL Park, which promotes the brand of Allentown energy company PPL Corp., which bought the naming rights to the venue, is being completed a few months late and, at $122 million, about $7 million over budget. The harsh winter with record snowfalls forced the club to play its first two matches at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia. The delay actually helped more fans see the Union’s first two matches in person. The Lincoln Financial Field games averaged about 30,000 fans, far more than would have fit into the 18,500-seat PPL Park. “If we would have had another $40 million, we would have put another 10,000 seats in [at the Chester stadium],” Sakiewicz said. Keystone Sports and Entertainment, the Union’s parent organization led by iStar Financial CEO Jay Sugarman, contributed $49 million toward the cost of the stadium project. Keystone also received $43 million from the state and $30 million from Delaware County toward the costs of acquiring the land and building the soccer stadium. Wilmington-based developer Buccini/Pollin Group, whose principals are part-owners of the Union, hopes to use the sports facility as the centerpiece of a mixed-used residential and commercial development along Chester’s Delaware River waterfront. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has budgeted $83 million for a new off-ramp from I-95 that will serve the stadium and adjacent development. The ramp won’t be completed until 2011, so the team is providing transportation to fans who park in remote lots. The Delaware River Port Authority is providing another $10 million for infrastructure needs, such as roadways and sewers, to serve the entire development. Sakiewicz, who is also CEO and operating partner of Keystone Sports, said what has surprised him, pleasantly so, about the Chester stadium project is what he describes as the “environment of soccer peace within the community.” Everybody, he said, from the youth soccer organizations to the cities of Chester and Philadelphia and entities like the Philadelphia Sports Congress and the Philadelphia Eagles are all working together to advance the game of soccer in the region. “You don’t always have that,” Sakiewicz said. “In other places everybody has their own agenda. All that does is hurt the fans.” Sakiewicz said having an MLS franchise, a new soccer stadium and the international games being played at the Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field this year have helped put Philadelphia on the global soccer landscape. “It’s like Philadelphia has gone from zero to 60 in three seconds this year in soccer,” he said. In addition to the first two Union matches, Lincoln Financial Field has hosted the final tune-up of the U.S. men’s soccer team against Turkey and will host a Union contest against Manchester United next month. Those games, Sakiewicz said, are on track to sell 170,000 tickets. The city, buoyed by the support fans have displayed for soccer, remains in the running to host FIFA World Cup games in 2018 or 2022. “Philly has arrived on the growing soccer scene,” Sakiewicz said. “The cork has popped off the bottle.” Tom Veit, president of the Union, said the club sold out of its inventory of 12,000 season tickets, which ranged in price from $275 to $1,100, in mid-May and is purposely holding back the rest for partial-season ticket plans and for people who want to purchase individual game tickets (priced at $25 to $40 a ticket). “We didn’t want the family with four kids that really can’t afford season tickets to miss out,” Veit said. Single game tickets went on sale this week and, except for a few $150 premium field-level spots, the remaining seats for the home opener sold out in five hours. Chester Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr. has been a consistent supporter of the stadium project. “They took a brownfield site, spent $10 million to remediate the land and are building a 18,500-seat stadium as part of a major project along the Delaware River,” Butler said in a recent interview. “To me, it doesn’t get any better than that.” Veit said one of the features he likes most about the soccer stadium is the fans’ proximity to the field. “The top seat is 27 rows from the floor,” he said. PPL Park has 30 private suites with windows that open completely to allow in the ambiance of MLS soccer — including the sometimes raucous cheering and singing. The stadium has the capacity to add another 30 suites if the demand is warranted. Veit said the club has not yet sold out of its initial inventory. The stadium also has sideline roofs made of a nonstick Teflon product that were erected above the sideline seating areas to provide some relief from the elements while also trapping in the noise made by cheering fans. Another feature of the stadium is the 2,000-seat Supporters Club section for members of the Sons of Ben fan club, which boasts 6,000 members. The Sons of Ben helped convince Major League Soccer that Philadelphia has passionate soccer fans who would support an expansion team. “They call their section ‘River End,’” Veit said, of the seats situated between the playing field and the Delaware River just beyond the stadium Michael Naioti, vice president of the Sons of Ben, agreed with Sakiewicz that the stadium’s location on the banks of the Delaware River and under the Commodore Barry Bridge “really distinguish it” from any other stadium in the league. “It’s exciting to think of the Sons of Ben filling an entire end of the stadium,” Naioti said. “We hope to make PPL Park a fortress that opposing teams hate to visit and at the same time give our team a true advantage. It will be loud, exciting and determined.” Sakiewicz said the fan club — which was consulted when the team’s name and colors were selected — was allowed to pick their own seat design, opting for a clamshell style. He also said their seats are the only ones in the stadium without cup holders. “They don’t need them,” he joked. “They drink faster than everyone else.” PPL Park also has five party decks dispersed throughout the venue; a 3,000-square-foot stadium store managed by Angelo’s Soccer Corner; an 11,000-square-foot, full-service restaurant; and the Toyota Plaza, an area where fans can gather before games to hang out or eat their own food or buy food from vendors. This week, Veit said, the team finalized a deal with Mangia Technologies to provide a delivery service that will allow fans in the stadium to text a food or merchandise order during the game, and have it brought to their seat. Keystone Sports also turned to Comcast-Spectacor of Philadelphia for help with the day-to-day activities at the stadium. Comcast-Spectacor subsidiaries Global Spectrum, Ovation Food Services and New Era Tickets will, respectively, run the stadium, provide food and beverage concessions, and handle ticket services. Up Close Name: PPL Park City: Chester Stadium Owner: Delaware County Waterfront Improvement Authority Operator: Keystone Sports and Entertainment Building Manager: Global Spectrum Construction manager: TN Ward Co., Ardmore Architects: Rossetti Associates, Detroit Cost: $122 million Funding: $49 million from Keystone Sports, $43 million from state of Pennsylvania, $30 million Delaware County. Seats: 18,500 Suites: 30 Naming Rights Sponsor: PPL EnergyPlus Keystone Partners: Crozer-Keystone Health System, Premier Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, Panasonic, 6 ABC, Horizon Services.

News
June 11, 2010

PPL Park readies for kick off
Philadelphia Business Journal - by John George Staff Writer

John George
Philadelphia Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz examines the final work being completed at PPL Park.
View Larger CHESTER — The area’s first stadium built for soccer is more than 90 percent complete, and the leaders of the team that will play there — Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union — have no doubt the venue will be ready for its scheduled debut June 27.

“Everything we’re doing now is the dusting and polishing,” said Nick Sakiewicz, the Union’s CEO.

PPL Park, which promotes the brand of Allentown energy company PPL Corp., which bought the naming rights to the venue, is being completed a few months late and, at $122 million, about $7 million over budget.

The harsh winter with record snowfalls forced the club to play its first two matches at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philadelphia. The delay actually helped more fans see the Union’s first two matches in person. The Lincoln Financial Field games averaged about 30,000 fans, far more than would have fit into the 18,500-seat PPL Park.

“If we would have had another $40 million, we would have put another 10,000 seats in [at the Chester stadium],” Sakiewicz said.

Keystone Sports and Entertainment, the Union’s parent organization led by iStar Financial CEO Jay Sugarman, contributed $49 million toward the cost of the stadium project. Keystone also received $43 million from the state and $30 million from Delaware County toward the costs of acquiring the land and building the soccer stadium.

Wilmington-based developer Buccini/Pollin Group, whose principals are part-owners of the Union, hopes to use the sports facility as the centerpiece of a mixed-used residential and commercial development along Chester’s Delaware River waterfront.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has budgeted $83 million for a new off-ramp from I-95 that will serve the stadium and adjacent development. The ramp won’t be completed until 2011, so the team is providing transportation to fans who park in remote lots. The Delaware River Port Authority is providing another $10 million for infrastructure needs, such as roadways and sewers, to serve the entire development.

Sakiewicz, who is also CEO and operating partner of Keystone Sports, said what has surprised him, pleasantly so, about the Chester stadium project is what he describes as the “environment of soccer peace within the community.”

Everybody, he said, from the youth soccer organizations to the cities of Chester and Philadelphia and entities like the Philadelphia Sports Congress and the Philadelphia Eagles are all working together to advance the game of soccer in the region.

“You don’t always have that,” Sakiewicz said. “In other places everybody has their own agenda. All that does is hurt the fans.”

Sakiewicz said having an MLS franchise, a new soccer stadium and the international games being played at the Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field this year have helped put Philadelphia on the global soccer landscape.

“It’s like Philadelphia has gone from zero to 60 in three seconds this year in soccer,” he said.

In addition to the first two Union matches, Lincoln Financial Field has hosted the final tune-up of the U.S. men’s soccer team against Turkey and will host a Union contest against Manchester United next month. Those games, Sakiewicz said, are on track to sell 170,000 tickets.

The city, buoyed by the support fans have displayed for soccer, remains in the running to host FIFA World Cup games in 2018 or 2022.

“Philly has arrived on the growing soccer scene,” Sakiewicz said. “The cork has popped off the bottle.”

Tom Veit, president of the Union, said the club sold out of its inventory of 12,000 season tickets, which ranged in price from $275 to $1,100, in mid-May and is purposely holding back the rest for partial-season ticket plans and for people who want to purchase individual game tickets (priced at $25 to $40 a ticket).

“We didn’t want the family with four kids that really can’t afford season tickets to miss out,” Veit said.

Single game tickets went on sale this week and, except for a few $150 premium field-level spots, the remaining seats for the home opener sold out in five hours.

Chester Mayor Wendell N. Butler Jr. has been a consistent supporter of the stadium project. “They took a brownfield site, spent $10 million to remediate the land and are building a 18,500-seat stadium as part of a major project along the Delaware River,” Butler said in a recent interview. “To me, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

Veit said one of the features he likes most about the soccer stadium is the fans’ proximity to the field. “The top seat is 27 rows from the floor,” he said.

PPL Park has 30 private suites with windows that open completely to allow in the ambiance of MLS soccer — including the sometimes raucous cheering and singing. The stadium has the capacity to add another 30 suites if the demand is warranted. Veit said the club has not yet sold out of its initial inventory.

The stadium also has sideline roofs made of a nonstick Teflon product that were erected above the sideline seating areas to provide some relief from the elements while also trapping in the noise made by cheering fans.

Another feature of the stadium is the 2,000-seat Supporters Club section for members of the Sons of Ben fan club, which boasts 6,000 members. The Sons of Ben helped convince Major League Soccer that Philadelphia has passionate soccer fans who would support an expansion team.

“They call their section ‘River End,’” Veit said, of the seats situated between the playing field and the Delaware River just beyond the stadium

Michael Naioti, vice president of the Sons of Ben, agreed with Sakiewicz that the stadium’s location on the banks of the Delaware River and under the Commodore Barry Bridge “really distinguish it” from any other stadium in the league.

“It’s exciting to think of the Sons of Ben filling an entire end of the stadium,” Naioti said. “We hope to make PPL Park a fortress that opposing teams hate to visit and at the same time give our team a true advantage. It will be loud, exciting and determined.”

Sakiewicz said the fan club — which was consulted when the team’s name and colors were selected — was allowed to pick their own seat design, opting for a clamshell style. He also said their seats are the only ones in the stadium without cup holders. “They don’t need them,” he joked. “They drink faster than everyone else.”

PPL Park also has five party decks dispersed throughout the venue; a 3,000-square-foot stadium store managed by Angelo’s Soccer Corner; an 11,000-square-foot, full-service restaurant; and the Toyota Plaza, an area where fans can gather before games to hang out or eat their own food or buy food from vendors.

This week, Veit said, the team finalized a deal with Mangia Technologies to provide a delivery service that will allow fans in the stadium to text a food or merchandise order during the game, and have it brought to their seat.

Keystone Sports also turned to Comcast-Spectacor of Philadelphia for help with the day-to-day activities at the stadium. Comcast-Spectacor subsidiaries Global Spectrum, Ovation Food Services and New Era Tickets will, respectively, run the stadium, provide food and beverage concessions, and handle ticket services.

Up Close
Name: PPL Park
City: Chester
Stadium Owner: Delaware County Waterfront Improvement Authority
Operator: Keystone Sports and Entertainment
Building Manager: Global Spectrum
Construction manager: TN Ward Co., Ardmore
Architects: Rossetti Associates, Detroit
Cost: $122 million
Funding: $49 million from Keystone Sports, $43 million from state of Pennsylvania, $30 million Delaware County.
Seats: 18,500
Suites: 30
Naming Rights Sponsor: PPL EnergyPlus
Keystone Partners: Crozer-Keystone Health System, Premier Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, Panasonic, 6 ABC, Horizon Services.