Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2001

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Planning

Major

Planning

Major Professor

Cecilia Zanetta

Committee Members

James A. Spencer, Teresa Shupp

Abstract

Many cities and public officials are faced with the issue of whether or not to construct a new sports facility for a professional sports franchise. Abundant research has been conducted on the economic impacts a sports facility and professional sports franchise have on a cities local and regional economy. Even with the evidence that a sports facility or professional sports franchise does not greatly affect a city's or region's economy, stadiums and arenas have been constructed at a rapid pace in America throughout the 1990's and continue to be on the forefront into the new century. With its opening in 1993, Oriole Park at Camden Yards became a model for future downtown sport facility construction and created a new wave of downtown sport facility construction. Conceived around a new idea of constructing the sports facility at a pedestrian scale and integrating it into the downtown network, often as part of a larger development plan, this new sports facility wave is aimed at maximizing the spillover benefits generated by the sports facility. Following Baltimore, many cities have just built, are currently building, or have proposed new stadiums and arenas that are conceived around this new wave of downtown sports facility construction aimed at maximizing the spillover benefits generated by downtown sports facilities. It is the ideal that people will attend the games, and patronize the existing businesses around the sports facility. Other businesses will want to capitalize on this potential and build in the area, recreating a vibrant area of downtown. In the long run, the area will hopefully redevelop into a lively place where offices, restaurants, retail, small businesses, entertainment, and residential uses coincide. The focus of this research is concerned with how potential spillover benefits generated by downtown sports facilities can be maximized. In no way does this research attempt to demonstrate that sport facilities are economic development engines or are economically feasible. As previous studies have shown, sports facilities typically do not act as economic engines, do not create jobs, and do not operate at a profit. The arenas and stadiums built in the cities included in this thesis are the result of professional franchises wishing to increase their competitiveness and profitability. The selected case cities have wished to cave to the demands of the professional franchise, and have chosen to locate a new sports facility in downtown. Assuming that this trend will not change, this thesis explains ways in which cities constructing new downtown sports facilities can get the most out of their investment by maximizing the potential spillover benefits generated by these projects, with the intentions of revitalizing their downtowns.

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