Stadium Seating

BEEGEE WILLIAM figures he sees a movie nearly every day -- but always at home. The 34-year-old DJ says he hasn't seen a movie in a theater since "Spider-Man." That was 2002. It's the cost, it's the ads, it's the kids (other people's, that is). "This lady couldn't control her kids ... they kept pulling my date's hair." It's what William sees as the deterioration of the whole moviegoing experience. He isn't alone. As the box office closed out 2005, moviegoing was down 7% with about 1.

Baseball fans who collect trading cards and other memorabilia will soon be able to add a less common item to their inventory: stadium seats. The city plans to sell as many as 50,000 seats from Anaheim Stadium over the next two years. The seats are being removed as part of the stadium's $100-million make-over into a 45,000-seat baseball park. Renovation of the stadium by Disney Sports Enterprises is expected to begin next month.

Despite threatened cuts in state education funding, the board of the Moorpark Unified School District today will consider taking out a loan for up to $530,000 to complete a new athletic stadium. Supt. Thomas Duffy said Tuesday that he will ask the board to consider getting a loan for installing stadium seating at the new athletic field at Moorpark High School.

Smoking will be banned in the seating areas of San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium during almost all baseball and football games, team officials announced Friday. The San Diego Padres, the San Diego Chargers and the San Diego State University Aztecs announced at a joint press conference Friday that the no-smoking bans for all three teams will be enforced starting with each team's 1992 season and will affect all open seating areas.

Super Bowl players spend 60 minutes trying to knock the stuffing out of one another. Super Bowl fans spend the game stuffing themselves. On Jan. 31, the 101,000 fans gathered at the Rose Bowl to watch Dallas and Buffalo will consume 13,750 pounds of hot dogs, 55,000 soft drinks and more than 100,000 cups of beer. So says Mark McClure, general manager for Service America at the stadium.

The Los Angeles Raiders have demanded at least $18,485,419 in damages from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, charging breach of verbal promises to renovate the stadium made to the team when it moved here from Oakland in 1982. The Raiders allege that the commission's broken promises prevented the team from building luxury suites on the Coliseum rim. The damage claim was contained in a letter delivered to the Coliseum offices Monday.

On opening day, two $11 tickets for the California Angels game at Anaheim Stadium could be had for a measly $1 each at game time. After a winter of discontent in which the Angels traded their most popular player, pitcher Jim Abbott, even ticket scalpers felt the wrath of the disgruntled fans. Since then, the Angels have won 12 of 17 games and have impressed their skeptical followers with their start, and their position atop the American League West standings, seem to have brought the fans back.

The San Diego City Council approved an ordinance Monday making it a misdemeanor to smoke in the seating areas at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. With a second reading expected in two weeks, followed by a 45-day waiting period, the new law is scheduled to take effect the day before the San Diego Padres home opener April 9. The stadium is believed to be the first open-air venue to prohibit smoking for all events.

The price first-time homeowner Justin Bieber paid for his new digs in Calabasas has wended its way into the public record: $6.5 million. Set on 1.3 acres in a gated community, the 10,000-square-foot main house is described as "transitional French" in style. Features include a high-ceiling foyer, library, a movie theater with stadium seating, a wet bar and a wine cellar. Just what every 18-year-old pop singer needs. Including a guesthouse, there are seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms.