![]() Bradbury, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia who has been tracking the projects. The emerging cycle of stadium construction has a “level of extravagance that has ratcheted up tremendously” and is projected to peak around 2030, said J.C. Glenn Youngkin announced a proposed $2 billion development to lure basketball’s Washington Wizards and hockey’s Washington Capitals to a new arena surrounded by a performing arts center, hotels, convention center, housing and retail stores. 12, Oklahoma City voters approved a 1-cent sales tax for a new Thunder basketball team arena costing at least $900 million. The trend extends beyond baseball and football. As part of the deal, the Titans agreed to pay off the remaining $30 million of public debt owed for their current stadium, which opened in 1999.Īs the Baltimore Ravens announced a publicly funded $430 million renovation this month, the football team’s senior vice president for stadium operations said the facility is “already considered by many to be top-of-line.” But “we must remain cutting-edge and captivating,” Rich Tamayo said. ![]() Those projects all also came with public funding, including the $760 million in local bonds the Nashville City Council approved to go with $500 million in state bonds to pay for the Titans’ new $2.1 billion stadium. They joined the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans, all of whom announced plans for or began construction on new billion-dollar football stadiums with luxury amenities. Petersburg, Florida, that also features housing, retail stores, restaurants and bars and a Black history museum. The Tampa Bay Rays followed suit in September, unveiling plans for a $1.3 billion baseball stadium as the centerpiece of a $6.5 billion development in St. The Kansas City Royals in August unveiled two options for a new $1 billion baseball stadium as part of an overall $2 billion development. The difference, however, is that Kroenke is privately financing the project, after uprooting the Rams from a publicly funded stadium in St. New or improved stadiums provide team owners with fresh revenue opportunities from luxury suites, dining, shopping and other developments, especially for those who control the nearby area.įor many, Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke is the model: His $5 billion football stadium opened in 2020 as the centerpiece of a sprawling development that will feature apartments, offices, retail stores, public parks and a theater. “Teams are clamoring for new stadiums because it’s in their economic interest to do so,” Baade said, adding, “The new stadium model is one that spills over the stadium walls.” It’s not as if the concrete is falling down and people are in grave danger if they attend a game,” said Rob Baade, a retired economics professor at Lake Forest College in Illinois. ![]() “These facilities are not physically obsolete. In some cases, sports teams are even seeking a new jolt of public funding for state-of-the-art stadiums while public entities are still paying off debt from the last round of renovations a couple of decades ago. Though the Brewers primarily cited a need for repairs, many of the other new projects are much more than that. One driven, in part, by a race to keep up with rivals and one that could collectively cost taxpayers billions of dollars despite skepticism from economists that stadiums boost local economies. This year alone, about a dozen Major League Baseball and National Football League franchises took steps toward new or improved stadiums.Ī new wave of sports facility construction is underway. With fanfare, Evers then signed off on $500 million in public aid for the stadium’s renovation, adding to a remarkable run of such blockbuster deals. Tony Evers recently praised the professional baseball team as an “essential part” of the state’s “culture and identity” and “economic success.” Standing on a portable stage erected at home plate of the Milwaukee Brewers ballpark, Wisconsin Gov.
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