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Matthew Cerutti
UP: 823 Land Use Planning
Instructor: Dr. Trish Machemer
December 11th, 2014
Final Report on Possible Thesis Topic and Literature Review

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As we near the beginning of the 21st Century planners and city officials have begun
to look at “mega-projects,” in hoping to provide an identity and stimulus for city’s
recovering from the Great Recession. Many land use initiatives, especially those related to
comprehensive plans with build out dates stretching 20 to 25 years into the future.
Attempts at developing a corridor or district based on these possible revenue-generating
resources are becoming attractive to the region as well. Larger metropolitan statistical
areas (MSA) are considering building or maintaining facilities needed for professional
sports teams. The four major sports in the United States are the National Hockey League
(NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), and the
National Football League (NFL). Sports in America have grown exceptionally in recent
decades, and are now the face of billion dollar investments in public subsidies and private
corporations.
Much discourse is sparked by team owners, league affiliates, and public officials to
focus on two attributes: 1) economic growth based in tourism, job creation, and
generalized urban development at the local level, 2) professional sports teams provide
community pride and self-esteem. The former is easily measured through raw data seta
obtained before and after development by looking at job growth, land use patterns, and
usually some measure related to the service industry, as well as infrastructure
improvements for collector and arterial streets throughout the immediate vicinity. The
first article focuses on “op-ed” articles and archival research using engagement
opportunities, and “two explanatory factors: organizational resources and agenda access,”
(Sapotichne, p. 169). The research is based on types of exploratory interviews, both
background and stakeholder interviews. With the main objective being the difference in
special interest groups with either anti or pro stadium affiliations, and particularly their
expected resources for influencing the media in forming the public opinion of voters for
referendum on the ballot in Seattle, WA. The results found were that the pro stadium
coalitions had to engage in a broad “rhetoric strategy” (p. 176), in order to reshape the
public’s perception in later elections. Their argument is most successful in appealing to the
social dynamic of improving the city’s status. Besides which the support for redevelopment
is often supported by the officials elect and the elite class with greater access to funds for
media relations.
In referencing prior work done by Baade, R.A., Sanderson, A.R. and Coates, D., all of
who seem to contribute much to the field in their appearance throughout most literature

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reviewed and published among academics. The attention now focuses on Pittsburgh, PA
where three leagues the NHL, NFL, and MLB, were pleading for public revenue in order to
update their respective facilities. The authors form two hypotheses, the first civic
pride/nonuse and the public choice/use benefit. Their methods are to analyze “survey data
on support for Pittsburgh’s decision to replace the multi-purpose Three Rivers Stadium
with separate stadiums for baseball and football” (Groothuis, Johnson, and Whitehead, p.
515). Along their path they describe the NHL’s Penguin’s’ bankruptcy and their push for a
new stadium as well. Special interest groups are once again involved in antagonistic
debates among topics of civil pride and public choice. Data sets are obtained by the use of
Contingent Value Method (CVM) surveys sent out to 900 randomly selected households
from the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), of which 293 responses were given at a
percentage rate 35.6. An empirical “bivariate probit model,” was identified as a means for
measuring civic pride and public choice. The overall civic pride benefits are tied closely
with citizens who regularly attend games, and those who feel that sports create a sense of
pride in the community.
The next evaluation comes from a rather different approach in that the suggested
comments are proposed to examine fan involvement in professional sports team’s decision.
Referencing more mainstream issues like those presented in a Sports Illustrated article by
Ballard C. (2004). The contention here is that if sports teams were to give fans the
opportunity for decision-making both during games and after, the interests would rise
dramatically within a specific demographic of people fascinated with the recent swinging
trends of “fantasy leagues” and “video games.” The methods implored by (Hyatt, Craig G.,
Sutton, W. A., Foster W.M., and McConnell D.) are to chronicle previous attempts at fan
participation and their impute made into management decisions for their “respective
teams.” As the Fan Cost Index (FCI) produced by team marketing procedures has risen
dramatically, “Fans and sports reporters alike have noted that the growing costs involved
in attending big league sporting events have become detrimental to attendance” (Benson,
2010; Clark, 2012; Leahy, 2010). Many who might other participate in attendance are
choosing too stay home and watch the game on their HD televisions their surround sound
systems, participating in the action through passive involvement in fantasy leagues and
video games. The paper implies that the traditional fan-team bond is becoming outdated,
while individuals align themselves with the players drafted instead of an alliance to a
specific team. They looked at examples where fans were even given the opportunity to

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make decisions during the second half of minor league baseball team by holding signs to
indicate their preference to the manager. The respective authors conclude that these
participation efforts may lead to increasing attendance levels and help fill seats as
“maintaining attendance numbers has proven to be a challenge.” (p. 201).
In reading the article by Sanderson, Allen R., he begins by stating the traditional
argument that sports facilities, from a purely economic point of view seem to be a
misleading allocation of public subsidies. This approach is made using quantitative
evidence, such as measuring the Gross Local Product (GLP) before and after construction.
This take also has roots in explaining that spending is just shifted from industry to the next,
by ignoring other more pressing issues related to “city budgets, schools, pot-hole repairs,
and police.” The data collected is simply obtained through observation and prior research.
As the methods for arguing for stadium development turn, he approaches the topic by
stating that the new era of stadium development in the 1990’s, at the apex of economic
growth is a matter of simple upgrading. Relating the experience to that of new movie
theaters upgrading to stadium seating to enhance the viewing experience for their
respected customers. Everything from health care to brand labeling can be seen as simply
upgrading your individual current commodities as your personal income increases. He
maintains that neither arguing for nor against stadium development is his intention, but
rather to see these investments as opportunities for enhancing the image or revival in
otherwise barren downtown area district. A state-of-the-art facility might be about as
valuable is upgrading to the newest smart phone, he calls this the “feel good effect.” As
many qualitative values are harder to measured in terms of civic pride. Although the
article lacks empirical data sets, his approach is justified through valid reasoning and
modern discourse used among public officials and team owners as they approach the
community for support in most, if not all proposals.
Next up is an article looks at a six-year span from 1988 to 1994 in which four out of
the five professional sports franchises located in Chicago, IL moved into new stadiums or
upgrading the nostalgia at Wrigley Field, originally constructed in 1908. As political
scientists Stephen Elkin and Clarence Stone initially conceived regime analysis in the
1980’s, the political leadership is evaluated by (Bennet, Larry and Spirou, Costos). The
scene is also described in terms of the neo-Marxian views of the renowned David Harvey
(1973) and Manual Castels (1980), who contend that urban development is a result of
“underlying forces driving regional shifts” while “offering important insights on topics such

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as relationships linking state and capital” to world economic concerns. The case study is
applied to possible future uses of regime analysis. The archival research is demonstrated
through a combination of documents obtained from the City of Chicago related to planning,
interviews, debates /negations for each project, and an examination of principle and
secondary documents. These specific parties can leverage thru the disclosure of
information. An example the author provides is an agreement between the “City of
Chicago/State of Illinois/White Sox in 1986 that produced state legislation authorizing the
construction of a new Comiskey Park, and yet as late as 1988 the White Sox persisted in
relocation talks with St. Petersburg, FL, and as a result, induced a second, more generous
state-authorized stadium proposal.” The accounts of special interests groups are
investigated again and were termed as being among one of the three categories: enabler,
mediator, and executor. “Analysts once worried about the domination of communities by
power elites, but the aim now seems to be to create such elites where they do not exist.”
Warren Magnusson (1996: 144).
More than 30 stadium projects representing nearly 90% of stadium development
have been allocated $8.5 billion of public funds without voter approval.” (Modello, Michael
and Kellison, Timothy 2014). The aim of this assentation is to take an interdisciplinary
approach to accommodate many of the diverse disciplines in academia in which this topic
is relevant. They first are subject to Santo’s (2005) case-study exploring individual
stadium-financing issues, then use the most recent caser of no-vote subsidy in pro sports,
then use civic paternalism needed for fostering a relationship within the community. The
breath of the paper is found by analyzing empirical evidence to support their conclusion.
The first scenario is set in Columbus, OH, where voters rejected a referendum dedicated to
sales-tax increases to fund, this issue was voted upon on in during a time span lasting
several years, from 1978 to 1997 the plans for the arena were voted upon five times. After
the decision private investors agreed to fund the development, which was bought later
with the approval of the city council using monies gathered from casino revenues. So
technically the Nationwide Arena was not built using public subsidies, but rather
purchased after the fact. The plan for public acquisition of Nationwide Arena was deemed
the “PANA Plan,” a misleading nomination in area known for turning away such initiatives.
As Molotch (1976) explained, “ The political and economic essence of virtually any given
locality, in the present American economy is growth,” this describes a collective action
known, “urban growth machine.” In the methods section of the paper, stadium funding is

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categorized by either a public vote or no public vote, put into a procedural and financing
legislation with specific outcomes. Executive Owens offers her thoughts, “It’s a pretty
complicated deal, and let’s face it, for most people, the most complicated thing they’ve ever
done is buy a house.” This is the approach that many elected officials or executives have
taken in dealing with the ordinary citizens whom may not be well informed. The authors
also have described the role of acting politicians who stand to benefit from stadium
development during election time. Those who thought the re-election campaigns were less
than favorable were more likely to avoid situations of controversy during their time in
office as opposed to those whom maintain a high level of support during polling periods.
Civic “paternalism” led to inconsistency among city and county voting members when
trying to defend their respective positions, most argued that the PANA plan was the best
thing for the community even if the voter approval was not present. The conclusions of the
study indicate that the no-vote subsidy seems to be used more often then the public is
deemed aware. Second they wish to encourage the academic field into studying the role of
political influence in stadium financing, moat important may be the motives behind the
elect. The most important aspect of pro-subsidy policy is the fall over that the
policymakers leave behind for future development, and the apparent need for further
empirical studies related to this field. As policy becomes intertwined with sports
management, difficulty in studying the fields independent of one another also proves to
become more difficult.
(Chaplin, Timothy) begins his defense of economic recovery and the positive
collective ventures sought by sports facilities intended to jump start stagnant economies by
looking at case studies for Baltimore’s Camden Yards and Cleveland’s Gateway community
revitalization efforts. His approach is done at the district level, by contradicting the
arguments presented by economists like (Baade and Rosentraub), describing the “shift in
spending.” In these previous studies many overlook the physical development like
infrastructure improvements instead of those using stadium development as an economic
development tool (in terms of jobs and taxes), (p. 194). The urban design is also a highlight
of his argument for realizing indicators of development at the district level. Often entire
corridors receive both necessary improvements to the districts function along with an
upgrade in aesthetic appeal attract new retail establishments with the induction of critical
masses of people. His methods first employed defining the specific districts through aerial
photography, planning documents, and parcel records from GIS data prior to the

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investments. The second step was used to update records and data through interviews
with the media and local development officials. This technique also fed into the “but-for”
analysis, in questioning whether the sports complexes were a necessary precursor to such
other developments in the hotel industry now on sight. After an in-depth look at the plans
for both cities his conclusion is that sport stadiums “it is essential that planners recognize
that these projects provide some limited opportunities for catalyzing urban
redevelopment.” (p. 207). Once again the foregone conclusion indicates that more research
is essential to measure the mixed results of projects, planning processes, and programs
yielding economic benefits.
In Robert A. Baade’s “Professional Sports as Catalysts for Metropolitan Economic
Development,” the abstract describes the increasing amount of threats placed on
communities by team officials for leveraging currency. “The primary beneficiaries of
subsidies are the owners and players, not the taxpaying public,” (p. 1). His stance is
coupled by mentioning almost a dozen new facilities that have acquired more than a $100
million from tax revenues. Making a specific example of Indianapolis, were colleagues
Rosentraub, Swindell, Przybylski, and Mullins (1994, p. 236), stated “that downtown Indy
failed to benefit significantly from substantial investment in sports infrastructure.” This
statement was made before Forbes Magazine recently named the city within the top ten of
“livable cities.” He argues that these aggressive mega-structures or “infrastructure at play,”
need to be evaluated at the macro level using multipliers from the Department of
Commerce for an accurate portrayal of economic gain throughout the “leakiest case”
scenarios. The study is targeted at job creation indexes that lie outside the scope of a
microeconomic analysis done by previous academic authors. The methods used for
quantitative analysis are the development of modeling indicators used by multipliers
specifically regarded for the amusement industry. Indeed, after constructing the equations,
the author admits, “Arguably, there are no urban growth models yet conceived that are
complemented by all necessary data that would allow an unbiased consistent estimate of a
stadium’s or team’s impact on a city’s economy,” (p. 8). Another argument that he holds
steadfast is the idea that professional sports can only be seen as economic attractions if
they bring monies in from outside the city limits. Or in turn keeps commerce made inside
the city limits that may have been spent elsewhere, termed “import substitution.” He then
uses regression analysis for samplings over the period between 1958 through 1987. The
empirical results were admittedly insignificant in all but a few exceptions such as

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Baltimore and Indianapolis were the separation of various economic strategies was not
separated. The main attempt was to discover whether or not the cities could demonstrate
a correlation, albeit positive or negative. For the collection of cities, the coefficients for new
teams and stadiums were statically insignificant as well,” (p. 11). The purpose of this paper
was to provide cities with methodology or new perspective for using public subsidies for
rationing portions of stadium development. The results are limited in scope.
Stadiums are used in conjunction with other modern techniques “as ways of dealing
with urban, social, and economic malaise,” (Weiner, Ross D. p. 41). As people started
moving out of city cores into sprawling neighborhoods, city officials and planners have
tried to use these mechanisms to bring people back to a once vibrant downtown
community. As jobs and corporations have followed some central cities now have an
abundance of crime and poverty. This specific article explores what the author defines as:
“four main drivers of stadium construction,” (p. 42). Using public subsides to build private
stadiums started after World War II, before that only one team, the Cleveland Indians were
playing in a public stadium. The amount of public subsidized funds allocated for these
projects has also grown dramatically from an average of $79.5 million in 1982-84, to
$165.5 million by the year 2000. An average cost rising by 200 percent. The four ways in
which the author describes governmental allocations are: 1) by public financing new and
renovation new construction, 2) offering favorable leases to these private entities (i.e. no or
low rent), 3) direct cash payments, and 4) by offering low interest rates using tax-exempt
bonds. He also quotes Rosentraub, by how stadiums now resemble the modern day
cathedral, or “temples,” which were often used in traditional European cities for providing
a cornerstone to mark the center of the public square. Grants are often awarded for teams
and their owners for keeping a club in place. A poll conducted by Tharp in 1996 concluded:
...Americansstronglybelievethelessonsofsports contributepositivelyto otherrealms
of life. An amazing91percent think sports participationhelps peoplegetalongwith
thosefromdifferent racial or ethnic groups;84percentthink sports involvement
helpspeopleinthe businessworld;77percentthink sports helps people bebetter
parents;and68 percent think sports helppeoplegetalongbetterwith peopleofthe
oppositesex(30).
A city may often reach a social status (ex. 1st Tier), based on whether or not there happens
to be a professional franchise located within it. He sets out further to explain how the
stadiums and subsides designated serve those only growing to games and not the

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community at large. There is that inevitable threat defined earlier as a team may often
threaten to leave the place their in, but this has to approved by the “league,” which consist
mainly of voting members who own other teams within this realm. In his concluding
remarks, he states that really the best people can hope for, is that the newly designed
stadium will keep current employers from leaving their respective locations within the
central corridor. Although his study is based on observational data, he does use empirical
or quantitative evidence to support his findings. As throughout quoting many scholars who
have done previous work in this regards to stadium development.
The final publication by (Bernstein, Mark F.), starts by quoting the former
commissioner of the NFL by stating, “we are now in the era of franchise free agency.”
Among all four professional sports leagues there exists what is termed as revenue sharing
that encompasses anything that might have the leagues logo on it, everything from bed
sheets to pencil erasers, all income is divided equally among the owners. But the best for
owners to “cash in” is to build a new stadium so that all proceeds from services like VIP
seating, parking, and concession sales are kept local. The new ballpark, for example, may
not generate more ticket sales, but the price of a ticket almost always increases after
building a mega-complex. He then compares pro franchises to cartels, were a group of set
individuals insure that the supply is always less than the demand. In the aftermath of a bill
passed by Congress, the Tax Reform Act in 1986, the dedication of bonds to private
businesses was curbed to those who stood to make 10% or less in private profit. But this
act also allowed for exemption in concern to professional sports receiving the “private-
activity bonds.” Quoting Baade from Lake Forest College, “Professional sports are
insignificant part of a large city’s economy, (p. 51). The “radical solution” identified by
many academics is to break inter-league cooperation, therefore causing a split among the
cartels. The technicalities published in this article are seemingly non-existent as no
hypothesis, methods, results or conclusion are given.
Through this preliminary literature review many difficulties and variables are pointed
out for justifying building a new professional sports stadium. Most academics and
economist seem to be against the idea primarily because of the amount of public subsidies
needed for building these “shrines.” And the proposal are more often than not, faced with
challenges seen from almost every angle of any development. Planners can look at
changing land-use patterns and corridor improvements, while also accounting for a certain
regional measure of economic growth and related patterns of consecutive development.

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Politicians can manipulate the public into conforming to their personal agendas or adding
to their proposition for re-election. Special interest groups form a divide in and around the
adjacent community, aligning themselves with a predetermined notion, whatever that may
be. The elitists owners and players who stand to gain the most from the popularity of a
growing industry hold most of the cards on the table, and can either fold or stand after the
“flop.” But there is little doubt as to the inevitable social impact these teams have not only
in their respective cities, but nationally as well.
As most examine the “infrastructure at play,” they admit that measuring the civic pride
and social interactions caused by such a waterfall as being inaccurate or unidentifiable to
the scope as to which they might exist. This solidifies the gap needed for further evaluation
by industrial professional and scholars. How do we actually determine the complete
trickling effect that will inevitable arise as quickly as the construct itself. One idea might be
to measure the volunteering community before and after the new stadium is built. Another
position may be to examine the media and their profound influence on the community in
this regard. There are many other “jobs,” that are equated with sporting or mega events
such as concerts, and showcase production. Most of which are not in the construction
industry most apparent by all, but hide underneath the viable new approach in
revitalization efforts. And since these structures tend to last over forty years or later, those
data sets would have to be studied throughout one individual’s lifespan. The time it takes
for a stadium to pay for itself is unknown and would differ from one community to the next.
Producing a landscape that is anything but uniformly applied, the situation compounds
itself time and time again, seemingly producing more questions then answers.
References:
Baade,Robert A. 1996. “Professional Sports as Catalysts for Metropolitan Economic Development.”
Journal of Urban Affairs 18 (1): 1–17.
Bennett, Larry, and Costas Spirou. 2006. “Political Leadership and Stadium Development in Chicago:
Some Cautionary Notes on the Uses of Regime Analysis.” International Journal of Urban and
Regional Research 30 (1): 38–53.
Bernstein, MF. 1998. “Sports Stadium Boondoggle.” PUBLIC INTEREST,no. 132: 45–57.
Chapin, Timothy S. 2004. “Sports Facilities as Urban Redevelopment Catalysts.” American Planning
Association. Journal of the American Planning Association 70 (2).

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Groothuis, Peter Andrew,Bruce K Johnson, and John C Whitehead. 2004. “Public Funding of
Professional Sports Stadiums: Public Choice or Civic Pride?” Eastern Economic Journal 30 (4):
515–26.
Hyatt, Craig G., William A. Sutton, William M. Foster, and Dylan McConnell. 2013. “Fan Involvement
in a Professional Sport Team’s Decision Making.” Sport, Businessand Management: An
International Journal 3 (3):189–204. doi:10.1108/SBM-Aug-2011-0071.
Mondello, Michael, and Timothy B Kellison. 2014. “Civic Paternalism in Political Policymaking.”
Journal of Sport Management 28 (2): 162–75.
Sanderson, Allen R. 2000. “In Defense of New Sports Stadiums, Ballparks and Arenas.” Marquette
Sports Law Journal 10 (2).
Sapotichne, Joshua. 2012. “Rhetorical Strategy in Stadium Development Politics.” City, Culture and
Society 3:169–80. doi:10.1016/j.ccs.2012.06.001.
Weiner, Ross D. 2004. “Financing Techniques and Stadium Subsidies in the United States.” Journal of
Urban Technology 11 (2). Carfax Publishing: 41–59. doi:10.1080/10630730412331297305.