These are selected news articles that showed up in our inboxes on Monday morning that we want to pass along to you.

Congress Ready to Ban “Pay for Patriotism” Salutes at Sports Events (NJ.com)
“The bill also seeks a study of all existing sports sponsorships and advertising deals.”

Donald R. Seawell, Founder of Denver Center for the Performing Arts, dies at 103 (7News Denver)
“He was first to bring the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) to America. In 1962, he directed and presented the RSC production of The Hollow Crown on Broadway and on tour and, in 1964, to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th Anniversary, he imported the RSC’s King Lear and The Comedy of Errors, which opened the New York State Theatre.”

Kentucky International Convention Center Reveals New Design Plans (WLKY.com)
“The new designs for the convention center focus on adding more exhibit space, renovating meeting rooms, and a re-designing a 40,000 square-foot ballroom — all within the building’s existing footprint.”

Independence Events Center to be Renamed Silverstein Eye Centers Arena (KSHB.com)
“…the deal will bring new exterior and interior signage and a new partnership with the Missouri Mavericks and Missouri Comets.”

Contemporary Services Corporation Partners with American University (PR Newswire)
“CSC’s services for American University, a client since 1985, are provided under the direction of Jordan Tobin, assistant athletic director for facilities and operations.”

(Image: The National Guard/Creative Commons)

Travel site Busbud wanted to know what the most Instagrammed places were in the U.S. and Canada. It did a little investigating and awarded places as winners for each state.

“Using the location type and name of the popular locations on TripAdvisor across the United States and Canada, we looked at which locations produced the most hashtags for Instagram posts and ranked them in every state, province, and territory,” the company wrote. “Destinations to satisfy virtually every interest exist – from sports arenas to theme parks, race tracks to universities – and the locations are distributed throughout the country.”

Congratulations to the several venues that made the list:

Coors Field (Colorado)
Atlanta Motor Speedway (Georgia)
Wrigley Field (Illinois)
Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hall of Fame Museum (Indiana)
Churchill Downs (Kentucky)
Oriole Park at Camden Yards (Maryland)
Fenway Park (Massachusetts)
Charlotte Motor Speedway (North Carolina)
Circuit of the Americas (Texas)
Bell Centre (Quebec)

Please visit Busbud for more locations and information about the research.

(Image: Circuit of The Americas)

The Frisco, Texas, city council and school board has approved a $39 million upgrade for Toyota Stadium, home to FC Dallas. That approval also brings the National Soccer Hall of Fame Museum, which will be part of a newly constructed second level of the stadium.

“Other improvements to the 10-year-old stadium are designed to better accommodate the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision title game, which will be in Frisco in January for the sixth year,” Valerie Wigglesworth reported for The Dallas Morning News. “Those upgrades include two 100-person locker rooms, more restrooms, more concession stands, a team store, a suite-level expansion, and better audiovisual technology. Crews will also build two access tunnels from the locker rooms to the field level.”

Toyota Stadium currently seats 20,500 guests and regularly plays hosts to concerts in addition to sporting events. It attracted more than two million visitors to Frisco in 2014.

The National Soccer Hall of Fame Museum houses more than 80,000 artifacts and records, including the world’s oldest soccer ball.

A press conference is set for October 14 to present more details.

(Image: FC Dallas)

TED talks are simply the best, and here we have one from Jason Wexler at TEDxMemphis. Wexler is the president of business operations for the Memphis Grizzlies and the FedEx Forum. In the video, he talks about how a team helps generate social connectivity and how you can measure the social value of that connectivity. The talk is 11 minutes and well worth your time.

The International Exposition (I-X) Center in Cleveland, Ohio, designed and installed a flexible, live performance space that includes sound walls, telescopic seating, and custom seating. It can go from a 3,500-seat theater to a 7,000-capacity arena, for example.

“Previously, our barriers attracting major concert promoters and national touring acts included a lack of elevated seating and the sound quality in this industrial complex,” said Jeremy Levine, I-X Center vice president of business development and creative force behind this project, in a statement. “We now offer a state-of the art performance space with remarkable flexibility and world-class sound. The acoustical environment has already blown away expectations and will only get better as we tweak the room.”

The new performance space is a 300-feet by 400-feet enclosed area with acoustic drapery and mass loaded sound panels. A vertical drape “canopy” flows above the audience at different heights for sound management. Also, an expanded flat-floor festival plan in the I-X Center can accommodate more than 23,000 guests in a single room.

“I-X Center’s new transitional arena/theater is a wonderful addition to the facility that already hosts large trade and consumer shows, as well as our growing portfolio of self-produced events,” Levine said. “We’re extremely excited with the capability to add live concerts, family shows, theatrical productions, and corporate events to our calendar, while I-X Center continues to serve as an economic and entertainment engine for Northeast Ohio.”

The center is working with VC Strategic Partners, a division of Venue Coalition, to develop content and introduce the venue to the live performance industry.

“We’re excited to be working with the I-X Center in Cleveland to introduce the market to this new performance space,” said Jeff Apregan, president of Venue Coalition, in a statement. “This new venue will offer multiple venue configurations and can host intimate reserved seat shows for 3,000 to 5,500 with general admission capacities that are much greater. Imagine an indoor music festival for 23,000! Best of all, when you step off your plane at the airport next door, you are only five minutes away from the backstage area.”

(Image: Joe Kleon)