Read more
Rich and his contributing authors provide a political and economic analysis of sports stadium construction in the United States-the impact it has on the sports industry itself and on the host communities in which stadiums and arenas are built. The book brings together the research of leading academic analysts of sports in American society and gives a candid assessment of the claims and benefits the sports industry makes, in its continuing promotion of new stadium construction. Focusing on Baltimore, Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, New Orleans, Toledo and Phoenix, the authors examine the topic from the perspectives of history, politics, and economics-and in doing so they raise several questions about taxpayer and community protection issues. Specifically, what do communities really get out of these facilities?
They point out that even as new and more expensive facilities are being built, Congress has not provided taxpayers and cities any real protection from the risks involved in stadium investment. Rich and his contributors examine how the pro-stadium coalitions mobilize and explain why stadium supporters manage to win most of their construction initiatives. In doing so, the contributors challenge the conventional wisdom that stadiums stimulate economic development and provide good jobs. On the contrary, they have not lived up to the promises owners made to their host communities. Neither have they generated high paying jobs nor have they met their operating costs. The book concludes with ways in which sports franchise owners can be held more accountable to their communities. The result is a powerful, well reasoned, skeptical but fair assessment of a growing phenomenon, and an important resource for professionals and academics in all fields of public policy administration and urban development and management.
List of contents
Introduction: Professional Sports, Economic Development and Public Policy
History of Stadium PoliticsHistorical Perspective on Sports and Public Policy by Steven Reiss
Sports and EconomicsThe Economics of Stadiums, Teams and Cities by Andy Zimbalist
Home Field Advantage? Does the Metropolis of Neighborhood Derive Benefits from a Professional Sports Stadium? by Robert Baade
Cities and Sports FranchiseThe Politics of Stadium Development in Phoenix, Arizona by Richard Temple Middleton
The Politics of Planning and Developing New Sports Facilities: The Case of Zephyrs Park and the New Orleans Arena by Robert K. Whelan and Alma H. Young
Stadiums as Solution Sets: Baseball, Football and Downtown Detroit by Lynn Bachelor
Minor League Baseball: Risks and Potential Benefits for Communities Large and Small by Arthur T. Johnson
Building Ballparks: The Policy Dimensions of Keeping the Game in Town by Edward Sidlow and Beth M. Henschen
Major League Baseball and American Cities: A Strategy for Playing the Stadium Game by Neil J. Sullivan
Media, Theatrics and Political ActorsExploring Politics on the Sports Page by Jose Marichal and Robyn Turner
Who Lost the Boston Megaplex and Almost the New England Patriots? by Wilbur C. Rich
Conclusions
Index
About the author
WILBUR C. RICH is Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. He is the author of Black Mayors and School Politics (1996) and Coleman Young and Detroit Politics (1989).
Summary
Rich and his contributing authors provide a political and economic analysis of sports stadium construction in the United States—the impact it has on the sports industry itself and on the host communities in which stadiums and arenas are built.
