Did you hear about the “Taylor Swift-ready” stadium that’s soon to rise in the sprawling Clark Civil Aviation Complex?

A presentation slide by the Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) made the rounds online after it claimed that project development has started for a shiny, new stadium in Clark. “Taylor Swift concert ready by 2028,” the now-viral slide boldly claimed.

But it went viral for another reason too: the stadium shown in the slide looked awfully similar to a new sports arena in San Diego, California.

A photo of the slide was initially reported online in a now-deleted post on X. Since then, it has been shared and reposted thousands of times on Facebook and Twitter. The slide features a dimmed background, seemingly a conceptual rendering of an arena complex. Although the slide discussed the planned stadium in Clark, it did not explicitly state that the image depicted the actual project.
TAYLOR READY? This photo of a CIAC slide presented during a technical working group meeting made the rounds online. Photo from Philippine Concerts’ Facebook page.

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And it certainly didn’t. A quick Google reverse image search showed that it was actually a conceptual rendering of “Midway Rising,” a 48-acre development in San Diego that includes a sports arena. The project is designed by Safdie Rabines Architects, and the architectural firm has on their website a conceptual rendering similar to what was used in the CIAC’s slide.

After facing backlash online for using the image without attribution, CIAC quickly released a statement claiming “there was no copyright infringement intended.”
MIDWAY RISING. Conceptual rendering of the ‘Midway Rising’ development in San Diego, California. Photo from Safdie Rabines Architects’ website
“CIAC is proud to conceive of this project with the inspiration of the likes of the rising San Diego Sports Arena in California, as presented at the second Clark Technical Working Group (TWG) on the Enhancement of the Utilization of Clark International Airport (CRK) meeting. There was no copyright infringement intended in the course of presenting the benchmarks of our project development process to like minds and peers among national leaders and private sector stakeholders,” the CIAC said in a post on Saturday, July 13.

Meanwhile, the Department of Tourism (DOT) was also quick to clear its name, clarifying that they were not involved in the CIAC’s presentation or plans.

“The DOT wishes to clarify erroneous information circulating online wrongly attributing to the DOT and Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco the imagery used in the presentation of CIAC President Arrey Perez for the Clark Complex in Pampanga. Neither the DOT nor Secretary Frasco were involved in the creation or delivery of these plans made and presented by Mr. Perez,” the DOT said in a statement posted an hour before CIAC’s.

Apparently, the now-viral slide was shown during a TWG meeting, which happened to include other high-level government officials, such as Tourism Secretary Frasco.
TWG. Group photo of the TWG members present during the July 11 meeting. Photo from CIAC.

“On his own accord, CIAC President Arrey Perez gave a presentation on his future plans for the Clark Complex, including a proposal to construct a facility capable of hosting major events such as concerts,” the DOT added. “The DOT has requested the CIAC to confirm that neither the DOT nor the Secretary has any involvement in their plans and presentation.”

And sure enough, that’s what CIAC did.

“We are grateful to the Department of Tourism – Philippines for their unequivocal support for Clark and in giving us the creative freedom, as they had no hand in developing the viral deck, to present our vision for the performance arena,” the government corporation said.

Even with these early issues aside, the stadium still has a long way to go before being realized. It’s just one part of a 37-hectare Entertainment and Events Center near the Clark International Airport, which will be developed through a public-private partnership from 2024 to 2027. While CIAC President Perez said that there are already at least three interested private sector partners, nothing is final yet.