Ambitious Indian Wells to build a new stadium

• The BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells plans to build a new 8,000-seat stadium
• The event hopes to attract more than 500,000 fans after the expansion
• It's the latest ambitious move by the Larry Ellison-owned tournament

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- Named as the new CEO of the BNP Paribas Open, Raymond Moore unveiled ambitious plans Tuesday to grow the international tennis event to attract 500,000 fans within five years.

Included in those plans is the construction of a new 8,000-seat stadium to debut by 2014.

In addition to the new stadium, plans call for a new parking lot, entrance and box office, among other infrastructure improvements. Moore revealed the plans during an interview about taking over as the tournament's CEO, replacing his good friend and tournament director Charlie Pasarell, who stepped down in May.

"It's an aggressive timeline and it's an aggressive program, but working for Mr. Ellison, he doesn't know anything else," said Moore, referencing tournament owner Larry Ellison, the founder and CEO of computer giant Oracle. "It's very exciting and very energizing."

The proposed stadium would be built on the north end of the 16,100-seat main stadium, where the food court and Tennis Warehouse tent usually reside. The current Stadium 2, which is east of the main stadium, and Stadium 3, which is south of the main stadium, will remain. Seating for stadiums 2 and 3 are temporary bleachers that are removed after the tournament.

At the center of the four courts is where the Corona Plaza is, with the enormous television monitor on the side of the main stadium. With the positioning of the courts, Moore said it will provide a nice shaded area, which is always a concern during March.

"It will form a great amphitheater of courts, with the Corona Plaza in the middle," Moore said.

Moore said designers have come up with two different stadium plans at different cost points. Moore will send the plans to Ellison for final approval, and then hopes to present final plans to the city of Indian Wells for approval of permits and licenses.

"We'll be creating jobs," Moore points out. "If we can get it done by 2014, we'll be very happy, very excited. We will need a lot of cooperation from the city and the agencies that issue permits and approvals. We're going through that whole process as we speak."

Because their plans haven't been finalized or approved by Ellison, Moore wouldn't put a price on the new additions. But the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, constructed in 1999 and opened in 2000, cost $77 million, which included the main stadium — the world's second-largest tennis arena behind the U.S. Open's Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"It's not cheap, and it's very ambitious," Moore said. "We haven't finalized our plans yet or the cost. We're right in the process of doing this. By the end of the month, we should have a handle on both of those things, and then it will depend on Mr. Ellison and if he wants to go forward or not."

Since moving into the 54-acre Indian Wells Tennis Garden in 2000 and attracting 187,000 fans to its first tournament there, the BNP Paribas Open has had rapid and sustained growth. The tournament, which has broken attendance records in 12 of the 13 years, attracted a record 370,406 fans in March, surpassing 2011's mark of 350,086.

It was during this year's tournament when Ellison told The Desert Sun his plans to attract half-a-million fans in five years. At 500,000 fans, the BNP Paribas Open would attract more fans than two of the sport's Grand Slam tournaments — Wimbledon and the French Open. Currently, the BNP Paribas Open is the world's fifth-most attended tournament behind tennis' four majors.

In growing the event, tournament officials have made a point that they want the experience to be fan friendly. If they allow more fans into the grounds, they want them to be comfortable, not cramped.

In the past, Moore said organizers could have sold more tickets, but the tournament had to put a cap on ticket sales, partly because of parking. The tournament has parking available for 10,000 cars so the city will allow approximately 24,000 fans at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. At this year's tournament, Moore discussed plans to purchase a plot of land that would provide parking for an additional 8,000 fans east of the Tennis Garden.

Tournament director Steve Simon said during this year's tournament the grounds could accommodate 40,000 fans at one time.

But tournament directors said that while they crave growth, they don't want to do it at the expense of the fans' or players' experience.

With the new stadium, the tournament will able to add more amenities as well.

A new stadium might allow the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to hold more events. In the past, Moore said the main stadium could only consider big arena acts to make it feasible to hold concerts. But the bigger acts demand large up-front fees, making it difficult to turn a profit. With an 8,000-seat arena, the Indian Wells Tennis Garden could consider a wider array of acts.

"We can still do the very big acts, and by big acts, I'm talking about Elton John and Eric Clapton and people like that. We can still do that in the big stadium," Moore said. "The smaller stadium will be more intimate. We'll be able to do events there with the smaller audience. It gives us more options than we usually have."

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Leighton Ginn writes for The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif.