Featured Story

AEG, ICON and Gensler reveal new Farmers Field renderings
FarmersField.com, November 15, 2011

Los Angeles-based architectural firm Gensler has released new images of the latest design scheme for the Farmers Field stadium and event center. The unveiling of the new images was part of a stadium project update by AEG and ICON Venue Group.

The Tuesday afternoon press conference included a project update from Tim Romani, President and CEO of ICON Venue Group, which serves as AEG’s Owners Representative for Farmers Field.

To read the full article and view project renderings, please click on the following link: More

To read more about ICON’s role on the project, please click on the following link: More

2011

Dynamo hold topping out ceremony at new stadium site
HoustonDynamo.com, November 14, 2011

On Monday, the Dynamo held a topping out ceremony at the new stadium site, to commemorate the last piece of steel being placed in the stadium's canopy. Dignitaries such as Dynamo president Chris Canetti, Texas Southern University president John Rudley, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, Texas state senator Rodney Ellis, Harris County commissioner El Franco Lee, Houston City Councilmember James Rodriguez, Houston Chief Development Officer Andy Icken, Harris County-Houston Sports Authority chairman Kenny Friedman, and Manhattan Construction president Leonard Rejcek were on hand to congratulate the construction crew on reaching this momentous occasion.

The Dynamo are scheduled to open their new stadium on May 12, 2012.

To view video and photos of the event, please click on the following link: More

To read more about ICON’s role on the project, please click on the following link: More

ICON is Hiring an Office Manager in Denver

JOB TITLE:  Office Manager/Receptionist       
JOB DESCRIPTION:  Provide overall management and organization for a Denver headquarters. Ideal candidate is experienced and capable of promoting and maintaining a cohesive, positive, energetic and clean professional office environment.

For the full job description, click on the following link: More

JELD-WEN Field awarded prestigious LEED® green building certification
Press Release, September 1, 2011

The Portland Timbers today announced that JELD-WEN Field, home of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club, has been awarded LEED® Silver Certification established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). LEED is the preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.

…Originally constructed in 1926, JELD-WEN Field received a sparkling, $40 million facelift in time for the Timbers to begin their inaugural MLS season in 2011. Ellerbe Becket served as the primary architect of the renovation project, while ICON Venue Group served as the project manager and Turner Construction was the general contractor.

To read the full article, click on the following link: More

To read about ICON's role on the project, click on the following link: More

Decisions, decisions, decisions
Sports Business Journal, July 25, 2011

Don Muret, Facilities Writer for Sports Business Journal, took a look at the decisions behind sports facility site selection, seating, concessions, flooring, and technology. Tim Romani, ICON Venue Group President and CEO, was a featured expert for this SBJ In-Depth story.

“Choosing the right style of seats for a sports facility is a trade-off between creating an intimate seating bowl and the comfort of the chair itself, according to Tim Romani, president and CEO of Icon Venue Group, an owner’s representative.

The bigger the tread depth — the length measured from the back of the chair to the front — the less likely a building will have a tight seating bowl. The right size to optimize capacity in the seating bowl is to select a seat with a 33-inch tread, Romani said. More teams, however, are going with 35-inch treads, a more comfortable chair that ultimately reduces the number of rows in the bowl.”

(For the full article, please read a copy of the July 25, 2011 issue of Sports Business Journal)

Playing Games Out of Place
NY Times, July 24, 2011

And now, the latest example of a trend in sports event management — a college basketball game scheduled for Veterans Day on the aircraft carrier used to bury Osama bin Laden at sea. Sports teams are apparently convinced that the one thing better than a home game is a game at a place that is not a home to sports at all.

…“This is an emerging trend,” said Tim Romani, the president of the ICON Venue Group and builder of $3 billion worth of sports stadiums. “It’s about being creative with your stadium, or other venues. We talked with a group in Germany about putting something on a cruise ship.”

To read the full article, click on the following link: More

ICON is hiring a Houston-based Project Coordinator

ICON Venue Group is currently managing the design and construction of the new Houston Dynamo Stadium, future home of the MLS Houston Dynamo in downtown Houston. ICON is looking for a local Project Coordinator to assist the Project Director with daily activities related to the stadium project.

To view the job description, please click on the following link: More

ICON-Taylor Presents Arena Feasibility Report for New Entertainment and Sports Complex
May 26, 2011

ICON-Taylor, a group of development consultants recruited by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, was tasked with determining the feasibility of a new sports and entertainment venue for Sacramento and the Sacramento Kings in February 2011. The group, comprised of ICON Venue Group, David Taylor Interests, Populous and Turner Construction, presented its report to city leaders Thursday at a special City Council session on May 26, 2011.

ICON-Taylor concluded that a new sports and entertainment complex could be constructed on a 10 acre downtown location in an area currently known as the Railyards. The meeting was covered extensively by many news sources.

To view a listing of articles on the meeting, click on the following link: Articles

To view a copy of the report presented to city council, click on the following link: Report

To view video of Sacramento News 10’s news coverage, click on the following link: Video

Bill Mannarelli Speaks at the Fédération Française de BasketBall Arena Conference
May 4, 2011

Along with several international industry executives including Yvan Mainini (FIBA President) and Matthieu Van Veen (Vice President of AEG Sports Europe), Bill Mannarelli was a featured panelist at the Fédération Française de BasketBall Arena Conference on May 4, 2011 in Paris, France. Mannarelli served on the “Multifunctional Arena Planning & Construction" panel with Raj Saha, Director of AEG Facilities Europe.

Image courtesy of Bellenger/is/FFBB

Gensler selected by AEG to design proposed $1 billion football stadium
LA Times, March 25, 2011

Even though the labor crisis has the NFL at a standstill, the effort to bring a pro football team back to Los Angeles is moving forward. AEG, proposing to build an NFL stadium/event center in downtown L.A., has taken another step in that direction by selecting Gensler to design the estimated $1 billion venue, The Times has learned. L.A.-based Gensler was one of three finalists, with the other two being the firms HNTB and HKS.

…Tim Romani, president and chief executive of ICON Venue Group, which is overseeing the proposed project, said the important aspect of Gensler "is the people, not the practice."

To read the full article, click on the following link: More

City Council chooses ICON-David Taylor team to look at arena proposal
Sacramento Business Journal, February 8, 2011

The ICON-David Taylor development team Tuesday won over Sacramento city leaders and will spend the next three months figuring out how to pay for a new sports and entertainment complex — regardless of where a new arena could be built or who would develop it.

The Sacramento City Council unanimously picked ICON-Taylor over three other teams vying for the right to prepare a financial feasibility analysis on a new sports complex to replace outdated Arco Arena.

To read the full article, click on the following link: More

INVITATION FOR BIDS

ICON Venue Group is soliciting consultant bids from qualified Small, Minority, Women-owned, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (S/MWDBE) as well as Persons with Disabilities Business Enterprises (PDBE) for Diversity Coordinator Services, and for Traffic Engineering Services for the Houston Dynamo Stadium located in Houston, Texas.  The bid due date is Friday, February 11, 2011 by 2:00 p.m.

The complete requirements for the work items listed above are described in the plans, specifications, and request for proposal (RFP) documents. 

All questions must be submitted in writing to ICON Venue Group no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 9, 2011.  Submit written questions via fax to 303-796-2658 and reference “Houston Dynamo Stadium Proposal” on the correspondence.

Each firm responding to this RFP will be evaluated based on the responsiveness and competitiveness of its proposal with respect to, among other things, (a) qualifications and past performance of the firm, (b) qualifications and experience of the particular individual(s) identified as the firm's proposed personnel for the Project and (c) overall pricing proposal, itemized general conditions and individual staff billing rates.

BID DUE DATE for both RFP’s is Friday, February 11, 2011 by 12:00 p.m.   See RFP for Bid instructions.

No late bids will be accepted.

For the RFP for Diversity Coordinator Services, click here. Addendum #1, click here.

For the RFP for Traffic Engineering Services, click here. Addendum #1, click here.

AEG reveals L.A. NFL stadium designs
ESPNLosAngeles.com, December 16, 2010

A week after Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG, formally laid out a timeline and proposal to build a $1 billion football stadium and events center in downtown Los Angeles, AEG revealed architectural renderings of the proposed venue from three design firms.

The three firms were picked from an original field of nine and AEG will choose a design and work on the entitlement process with the City of Los Angeles within 30 days.

AEG has hired ICON Venue Group, a project management firm that worked on Denver's Invesco Field, to act as AEG's representative in the process after working with the group to build the 02 Arena in London.

To read the full article, click on the following link: More

To see additional media coverage of the press conference, click on the following link: More

Task force weighs four arena teams
Sacramento Press, January 6, 2011

An arena task force will use flexibility to analyze a second round of project proposals because there is such a wide range of plans now before them, a task force co-chair said Thursday.

…ICON has managed more arena and stadium development projects worldwide than any other firm. Romani counseled the task force against continuing with the competition Johnson established by putting out a public call for proposals, first in late 2009 and again in late 2010, and appointing the task force. He said leaders should be collaborating to build an arena.

"I don't believe a competing process is going to get you where you need to go," he said. "The collaborative process of all the business leaders, along with the city and the team, is what it's going to take to make this happen."

To read the full article, click on the following link: More