Latest news with #COV
Perth Now
21-04-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Iconic tennis courts set for stunning redevelopment
Perth's Robertson Park tennis centre is set for its next stage of redevelopment. The City of Vincent will begin works on April 22 converting 12 synthetic turf tennis courts to acrylic hard courts in line with Tennis Australia standards. The central walkway will also be enhanced to incorporate shade structures, seating, drainage and rain gardens with native plants and trees. Your local paper, whenever you want it. The works involve installing 350 lux LED floodlighting, replacing the tennis court fencing, widening the central thoroughfare to 10m and establishing rain gardens with native tree planting, as well as an integrated stormwater drainage system, new shade structures and seating throughout the site. The leisure park upgrades will see expanded public space, new nature play and outdoor experience equipment, lighting, improvements to the dog exercise area, and a new public toilet. Mayor of Vincent Alison Xamon said the works would ensure that Robertson Park met the needs of the community into the future. Robertson Park tennis centre. Credit: COV 'These upgrades will see Robertson Park become a more flexible, multi-use outdoor recreation space suited to the growing and changing needs of our community,' she said. In December last year the centre completed the first stage of developments. The first stage of works involved the refurbishment and conversion of six tennis courts into four multi-sport courts with LED floodlighting and new fencing as well as a dual hit-up wall and half basketball court. 'We are already seeing the benefits . . . it's been fantastic to see the North Perth Dynamites Netball Club now training at Robertson Park,' Ms Xamon said. The Robertson Park development plan was endorsed by council in September 2021 after it identified a need for more flexible, multi-use public open space in Vincent. 'Robertson Park is important not only as Vincent's largest tennis centre but as a much-needed green community space in the inner city,' Ms Xamon said. The upgrades to the tennis centre are being delivered with the support of the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, which has co-funded the construction works. The works are also co-funded by Tennis Australia's National Court Rebate. The tennis centre carpark will remain open to the public throughout the works. This stage of works is expected to be completed late this year.
New York Times
19-02-2025
- Business
- New York Times
NFL projects 2025 salary cap to rise to at least $277.5 million
The NFL informed teams in a memo Wednesday the salary cap is projected to rise again in 2025 between the range of $277.5 million to $281.5 million per club this upcoming offseason. The information comes ahead of next week's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, set to take place from Feb. 27 to March 2. Advertisement Last year's salary cap was set at $255.4 million — making for a jump of between $22.1 million and $26.1 million in 2025. The figure is below the cap increase for 2024 of $30.6 million — the 2023 cap was $224.8 million — but does make for a rise of, at minimum, nearly $53 million over the past two seasons. The new projection also means the cap will have risen over $20 million for the third time in four years and marks the fourth straight season that the salary cap has increased. The salary cap range is subject to change based on negotiations with the NFL Players Association, but the league expects those talks to wrap next week, per the memo. The announcement bodes well for free agents with the negotiation period for unrestricted free agents opening on March 10 at noon ET. The New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders, Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Chargers have the most cap space, according to Over The Cap, a cap-tracking website. Additionally, the franchise tag period opened Tuesday and runs through March 4. Wednesday's news is also a welcome development for teams that are tight against the cap or facing difficult financial decisions regarding whether to move on or renegotiate a deal for a player with a sizable cap number. Over The Cap currently shows five teams to be over the salary cap: the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints — with two more (Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins) over on effective cap space. Unused cap space carries over from year to year, so teams don't necessarily need to spend the full amount this season. Teams must be under the salary cap by the start of the 2025 league year on March 12 at 4 p.m. ET. The salary cap for the coming year is expected to jump by more than $20 million, which means all NFL teams will receive a significant chunk of spending money for free agency and the draft. Advertisement Why such a big jump? Every year, the salary cap is set based on the previous year's revenue. But last year's cap figure of $255.4 million was as such because the NFL and NFLPA had agreed following the 2020 season – the year in which revenue was severely impacted by COVID-19 restrictions – that they would spread out the losses over several seasons rather than take such a huge hit in one year. Essentially, the two sides agreed to borrow cap space from future seasons to help compensate for the loss incurred when teams played in mostly empty stadiums. Last year, the NFL and NFLPA played on a salary cap that was $10 million less than it could have been (based on the 2023 revenue) because $9 million of that reduction was borrowed to soften the COVID-19 blow, and another $1 million was added for players' performance based bonuses. For now, this year's salary cap figure is a rough projection. The league, in the memo to teams, explained that the spending limit will fall somewhere between $277.5 million and $281.5 million. The league is waiting for NFLPA officials to notify it on how the union wants the final $9 million of the COVID-19 deferred hit to be broken up between this year and next. It's believed that once the NFL releases the final revenue figures from the 2024-25 season (including earnings from the postseason and Super Bowl), the NFLPA will then come to a decision on how to split the remaining $9 million up between the 2025 and 2026 seasons. — Mike Jones, national NFL writer
