PCL ramps up sports construction business with new hires

Dive Brief:

Canadian firm PCL Construction is beefing up its sports construction business, and has hired two new executives to lead the way, according to the company.
PCL named Dale Koger as vice president and general manager and Gary Birdsall as vice president of its sports division, which is based at the company's U.S. headquarters in Denver. Koger came from Legends, which is providing project management services for the NFL's new $4 billion Rams and Chargers stadium in Los Angeles, and spent 14 years at Turner Construction. Birdsall spent the last three years at Legends and 11 years at Turner. According to PCL, the two have worked on $6 billion of sports venue projects together and have decades of experience in the sector.
PCL is already a player in the sports construction space with projects like the $278 million Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan, and the StubHub Center in Los Angeles under its belt. The latest Building Design + Construction ranking of sports construction firms by 2016 revenue has PCL at No. 5 with $304 million.

Dive Insight:

There are some other big names on the BD+C list, including AECOM (No. 1; just over $1 billion in 2016 revenue); Mortenson Construction (No. 2; $643 million); Koger's and Birdsall's former employer Turner Construction (No. 3; $363 million) and Barton Malow Co. (No. 4; $344 million).

These companies are among a handful that always seems to pop up when it comes to new sports stadiums or arena construction.

For instance, the joint venture of AECOM Hunt and Turner is the general contractor for the new Rams stadium, which has experienced some bumps in the construction process. The duo had to wait out a lengthy and expensive Federal Aviation Administration investigation as well as unseasonably wet weather that was severe enough to postpone the stadium opening for a year.

Mortenson, which completed the new $1.1 billion Minnesota Vikings Stadium in 2016, is now underway with the high-profile $2 billion stadium that will be home to the future Las Vegas Raiders. Mortenson has committed to an aggressive 30-month schedule with completion slated for 2020.

But with these big projects come the big price tags that drive owners to explore loans and public contributions to help foot the bill, which can anger some who don't think taxpayers should fund these types of projects. For instance, the state of Nevada has committed $750 million to the Raiders project, paid for by an increase in the Clark County hotel tax. Although the deal is done, Nevada State Treasurer Dan Schwartz, who is running for governor, said if he is elected, he will not approve funding for the $900 million of infrastructure planned for around the stadium unless the Raiders agree to forfeit the $750 million. He said proceeds from the new tax should be used to fund education-related items instead.