If You Build It, Will They Come? Part Two
Why this matters
The subsidy funding model for developing sports venues, which first gained popularity after the move by NFL Colts team from Baltimore to Indianapolis, has shifted in recent years as cities and economic developers have begun analyzing decades worth of data. Experts are now recommending broader and more inclusive models of development that provide economic gain for existing communities, rather than simply constructing a sports venue and hoping that economic activity will follow.
Guest producer, Karen Given explores the debate of public vs. private funding of sports venues. In part one we heard about the way Indianapolis obtained the NFL Colts team and over the decades became known as a 'sports town' built with taxpayer dollars. Now in part two, Karen widens the scope of the debate to discuss more broadly stadium deals to discern what works, what doesn't work, and how we can improve economic outcomes by applying urban planning principles and better integrating into existing communities. In this roundtable, Karen is joined by Brad Humphreys, Professor of Economics at West Virginia University, Judith Grant Long, Associate Professor of Sport Management and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, and David Malmuth of David Malmuth Development, LLC.
Find the Global Sport Matters Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.
Monthly Issue
The Return on Our Sports Investment
You can see it from the skyline: Sport is a dominant part of any community where it is played. The economic relationship between professional organizations and these communities has always been fundamental to understanding sport, but as the industry grows, so too does the sway sport holds over cities and states.
How do fans and residents see this relationship? Do these private businesses owe the public more than they are giving? And what is the ideal role sports organizations should play in a community?
