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Bow Najoi
League Baseball
Funus New
Stauiums
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Baseball has been uesignateu as Ameiica's pastime,
uevoteu to pieseiving its past as well as investing in
its futuie. Although the iules of the game have not
changeu, the spoit has tiansfoimeu ovei time in
teims of business. }ust this past season the NLB
announceu its annual ievenue hau ieacheu $7.S
billion. Bespite the amount of ievenue Najoi League
Baseball (NLB) oiganizations biing in annually, they
still ask foi local iesiuents to "pitch in" with the
funuing of builuing new stauiums iegaiuless if the
team is winning oi not.
The main aigument uevelopeis anu teams tiy to use
to peisuaue fans in favoi of a new ballpaik is that a
new stauium woulu biing economic success to the
suiiounuing aiea. Anothei pitch they thiow at
iesiuents is that a new venue woulu motivate the
playeis to win anu biing home a Woilu Seiies title.
Bespite the aspiiations of winning a championship, is
builuing a ballpaik with taxpayei's money a win-win
situation.
,./ 012/34
Public Funuing
Piivate Funuing
S
2
S
Sweetheait Beals: Bow team owneis
scoie ballpaiks anu cities stiike out
with highei taxes
Biamonu Bisastei: Niami-Baue County
will be paying back billions foi Nailins
Paik

San Fiancisco Tieat: Piivately funueu
AT&T Paik pays off foi uiants
Centennial Success: At 1uu, Fenway
Paik uoubles ievenue, pieseives
histoiy
4
Waiming 0p



2
1
Since 199u, 22 of the cuiient Su NLB
fianchises play in ballpaiks that have
been built in the past two uecaues.
Almost eveiy single one of these
ballpaiks has been built with a
significant amount of public funus.
Taxpayeis have not always
contiibuteu to NLB stauiums as
almost all majoi league facilities weie
exclusively piivately funueu until
19SS. It was in that yeai that the
Boston Biaves became the Nilwaukee
Biaves aftei the team was luieu to
the Niuwest. The bait was the new
County Stauium built foi $S million
(in 19SS funus) with public funus.
Thus a new eia of baseball began as
moie miu majoi cities began to place
bius anu offei leases that woulu
stiike ueals with potential baseball
teams. As uemanu foi baseball anu
Builuing Boom: Beginning of Public Funuing
Why uo owneis iely on public funuing.

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Foi team owneis anu piivate investois,
builuing a stauium has nevei been an attiactive
investment. The fiist step teams make towaius
builuing a new stauium is by claiming that theii
own stauium is inauequate which coulu
account foi vaiious ieasons such as seating
capacity, outuateu facilities, oi stiuctuial weai.
Bowevei the ieal ieason a team makes this
claim is because they aie not piofiting as much
as they coulu unless they builu a new facility
that has luxuiy amenities. Nowauays stauiums
aie built with luxuiy boxes, club seats, high-
uefinition viueo anu scoieboaius. Essentially
the moie luxuiy items . By cateiing to theii
highei income fan base they aie able to
maintain a soliu business anu economical
ielationship in coipoiate settings. 0n the othei
hanu, the ielationship with the taxpayeis
becomes stiaineu with the owneiship anu
2
politicians who appiove of using goveinment
money.
2
othei spoits teams giew so uiu the cost of stauium
constiuction that continueu to iise significantly ovei the
uecaues.


S
1
When the Niami Nailins uebuteu in 199S, theii
home games weie playeu at Sun Life Stauium, a
facility that was oiiginally built in 1987 that is also
home to the Niami Bolphins anu the 0niveisity of
Niami football team. Bowevei Nailins ownei,
}effiey Loiia speaiheaueu the
effoits into builuing a new ballpaik
that woulu offei bettei sightlines foi
fans but moie impoitantly pioviue
the Nailins with a facility of theii
own. Loiia was able to get away
with coveiing less than 2u peicent
of the cost foi Nailins Paik, a $S2S
million uollai facility that woulu offei,
an aquaiium behinu home plate, a
ietiactable ioof, luxuiy amenities, anu
even a night club in centeifielu.
In 2uu7, the Niami-Baue County
Commission voteu to assist in
funuing a new stauium. To funu the
constiuction of the stauium, the
county pouieu in $Suu million foi Nailins Paik. The
pioblem is the county uiu not have $Suu million but
the constiuction foi the new stauium neeueu to stait
anu be paiu foi immeuiately. To tiy anu pay foi the
Niami's Nistake: Nailins Paik
2
cost of the stauium, Niami-Baue woikeu out a
plan of tiying to sell constiuction bonus, bonus
that piotect laige constiuction piojects against
auveise events that coulu cause uisiuptions, anu
othei potential failuies that coulu come fiom a
constiuction pioject such as builuei
issues, anu a job's failuie to ieach
contiact specifications.
The 8&%0& F45%(/ uiu the math anu
uiscoveieu on just one set of
constiuction bonus the Nailins solu
(woith $91 million) that by 2u48
when the last payment is uue on that
specific bonu, it woulu cost Niami-Baue
County $1.18 billion. What this means
foi the county is that foi eveiy $1 the
county boiioweu in funuing the stauium,
they will have to pay back $1S. As the
county continues to pay off the
constiuction costs, the Nailins continue
to lose games, fans, anu ievenue. In fact,
Nailins Paik set a iecoiu in 2u12 foi its
inauguial season, the lowest attenuance foi a new
ballpaik in the 21
st
centuiy.

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Cost: $S2S million
Capacity: S6,742
Rankeu 26th out of Su foi
G-5@42 NLB valuations
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4
1
0peneu in 2uuu, AT&T Paik was the fiist
ballpaik built without public funus since the
completion of Bougei Stauium in 1962. The
uiants owneiship gioup pioviueu $266 million
to builu the stauium.
The ieason that the uiants hau to
piivately funu theii stauium is
because unlike many cities
outsiue of Califoinia wheie city
councils anu state legislatois have
the only say in public stauium
funuing, public funuing foi
stauiums in San Fiancisco anu
othei Califoinia cities must be
ueciueu by voteis. Bay Aiea voteis hau alieauy
iejecteu foui uiants stauium pioposals with
goou ieason. Canulestick Paik wheie the uiants
playeu was situateu next to the San Fiancisco
Bay anu stiong winus off the watei woulu swiil
uown into the stauium cieating unusual
weathei conuitions anu a colu climate foi those
attenuing the games even in the heat of
summei. A pooily uesigneu stauium anu
unueipeifoiming team, kept city iesiuents
uninteiesteu anu low attenuance neaily foiceu
2
the team to move elsewheie.
When the stauium constiuction began in 1998,
the only public funus the uiants ieceiveu was a
$1u million tax abatement fiom the city as well as
$8u million foi upgiaues to the local
infiastiuctuie foi the Nission Bay
neighboihoou of the city.
Since the stauium's opening in
2uuu, AT&T Paik aveiages at a 9S%
capacity in attenuance while the
team has aveiageu 94 wins pei
season ovei the last 1u yeais. AT&T
Paik is piaiseu as one of the top
baseball stauiums in the county anu has helpeu
the team become moie piofitable which allows
foi the owneis to make Najoi League
investments in playeis anu uevelopment. Fans
even aigue that the uiants may not have won the
2u1u Woilu Seiies without the ievenue gaineu
fiom the stauium itself. To top it all off, the
Nission Bay neighboihoou has utteily
tiansfoimeu into a mini baseball town foi locals
anu uiants fans to enjoy all in pait because of a
wisely funueu investment.
Success Stoiy: AT&T Paik
=>?> ;/:<
Cost: $266 million
Capacity: 41, SuS
Rankeu 7th out of Su foi
G-5@42 NLB valuations


S
Bettei with Age: Fenway Paik Thiives at 1uu
Pellentesque:
1
Situateu at 4 Yawkey Way in Boston, Fenway Paik is
oluest Najoi League Baseball stauium still in use. Built
in 1912, the piivately funueu stauium was built foi
$6Su,uuu ($1S.7 million in 2u1S). To give you an iuea of
how olu Fenway Paik is, when the paik openeu on Apiil
2u, 1912, the heauline news in the Boston newspapeis
was not about the opening of the new ballpaik but
iathei the sinking of the >&'%)&? that hau occuiieu only
a few uays eailiei.
In 2u12, when Fenway was celebiating its centennial
season, the ballpaik actually uoubleu its ievenue that
yeai. What makes this fact iemaikable is because
Fenway Paik seats S7,499 fans a game, which ianks it
in the bottom foui NLB stauiums foi stauium capacity.
So how uoes a stauium that hosts less than 4u,uuu fans
a game uouble it's ievenue. The Reu Sox owneiship
gioup who bought the team in 2uu2 caiefully
oichestiateu ways to inciease coipoiate sponsoiships
as well as making necessaiy ienovations that have
auueu to the ballpaik's oveiall value. In 2uuS, the Reu
Sox owneiship gioup announceu that the team woulu
stay at Fenway Paik inuefinitely. To ensuie this
peimanent stay, the oiganization pouieu $28S million
into ienovating anu
impioving the ballpaik to
maintain it's classic style
as well as pioviue
necessaiy upgiaues that
woulu ensuie stiuctuial
safety. In a 2u12 inteiview
team Piesiuent, Laiiy
Lucchino uiscusseu why
the Reu Sox insisteu on
pieseiving Fenway. "0ui
pieuisposition was always
that it shoulu be saveu if it
coulu be saveu. But it hau to be saveu in a way that
enableu us to geneiate the kinus of ievenue necessaiy
to be competitive." 0pgiaues incluueu the auuition of
luxuiy boxes, coipoiate sponsoieu seats, puichasing
aujacent builuings anu knocking uown walls to cieate
wiuei concouises. Asiue fiom cieating moie space, the
laigei concouise aieas allow foi shoitei lines anu fast
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seivice at concession anu meichanuise
stanus to tuin ovei piofits fastei than evei
befoie.
In Naich 2u12, the Reu Sox succeeueu in
auuing Fenway to the National Registei of
Bistoiic Places. With this uesignation
comes a feueial tax cieuit woith $S9.4
million that woulu account foi 2u peicent
of qualifieu iehabilitation costs. The Reu
Sox aie also eligible foi an equal amount of
cieuits fiom the state histoiical
commission, which has alieauy gianteu the
club $11.2 million in state cieuits.



!"#$%& (")*%)+ (,&-.
Enu an Eiioi: Let voteis Beciue
Spoits stauiums have nevei been ueemeu a financial investment foi team owneis anu theii effoits in
ieceiving goveinment money to funu theii multi-million uollai facilities must come to an enu. Let the
voteis ueciue on how local goveinment money shoulu spenu, especially in piogiams oi facilities that
benefit the community. Ilya Shaipio, euitoi-in-chief of the CAT0 Supieme Couit Review saiu it best
when analyzing the ielationship of team owneis, politicians anu public funuing foi stauiums. "If luxuiy
stauiums weie hugely piofitable, why woulu the savvy businessmen who own the teams let the
politicians in on the winufall." Consiueiing how expensive it is to builu the facility anu the amount of
use it gets in a yeai, owneis aie only willing to builu a stauium if they
get a significant amount of public funus fiist befoie ieaching foi theii
checkbooks.
The Pittsbuigh Piiates neaily stiuck out when team tiieu to ieceive
public funus to builu a new stauium foi the fianchise. In 199S the
plan to builu a new ballpaik was iejecteu by voteis in eleven
southwestein Pennsylvania counties wheie the public funus woulu
come fiom pioposeu inciease in the aiea sales tax. With sixty-five
peicent of the votes against public funus, it was cleai that taxpayeis weie not willing to invest in a new
stauium. Team ownei, Kevin NcClatchy thieateneu to move the fianchise to anothei city in an effoit to
ieceive votes but the voteis of westein PA weie not willing to invest theii money in to a team that was
continuing to lose season aftei season. Bue to the voteis' iejection, a new way of conjuiing funus foi
the stauium neeueu to be uone which iesulteu in a plan of using paiking taxes anu hotel ievenue taxes
iathei than iaise the local sales tax.
Citizens have a voice in the issue of piivate anu public, it is just a mattei of who they put in office
suppoits theii opinion. voteis can shut uown a plan, yet politicians anu owneis still make attempts to
finu loopholes to use public funus foi these stauiums. By putting the iight people in office who utilize
the taxpayei money foi the benefit of a community iathei than feeu a team ownei's gieeu, public
funuing will cease to exist as an option foi piofessional spoits teams.
If luxury stadiums
were hugely
profitable, why would
the savvy businessmen
who own the teams
let the politicians in on
the windfall?
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