Across the United States, there are numerous plans for new sports stadiums that involve high public costs

Standing on a portable stage erected at home plate at the Milwaukee Brewers' ballpark, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers recently praised the professional baseball team as an “integral part” of “culture and identity” and “economic success.” “of the state.

Then, amid much fanfare, Evers signed $500 million in public support for the stadium's renovation, adding to a remarkable string of such blockbuster deals. This year alone, about a dozen Major League Baseball and National Football League franchises have made moves toward new or improved stadiums.

A new wave of sports facility construction is underway. One is driven in part by the race to catch up with competitors and could cost taxpayers billions of dollars in total, despite economists' skepticism that stadiums boost local economies.

Although the Brewers primarily cited a need for repairs, many of the other new projects go far beyond that. In some cases, sports teams are even seeking new public funding for state-of-the-art stadiums, while public institutions are still trying to pay off debt from the last round of renovations a few decades ago.

“These facilities are not physically obsolete. It's not like the concrete is falling and people are in great danger when they go to a game, said Rob Baade, a retired economics professor at Lake Forest College in Illinois.

“Teams are loudly demanding new stadiums because it is in their economic interest,” Baade said, adding: “The new stadium model goes beyond the stadium walls.”

THE POWER OF EQUAL PRESSURE

New or improved stadiums offer team owners new revenue opportunities through luxury suites, restaurants, shopping and other developments, especially for those who control the surrounding area.

For many, Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke is the role model: His $5 billion football stadium opened in 2020 as the centerpiece of a sprawling development that will include apartments, offices, retail stores, public parks and a theater.

The difference, however, is that Kroenke is financing the project privately after evicting the Rams from a publicly funded stadium in St. Louis that was still being paid off.

The Kansas City Royals in August unveiled two options for a new $1 billion ballpark as part of a $2 billion overall development. 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 project in St. Petersburg, Florida, that also includes apartments, retail stores, restaurants and Bars and a Black History Museum.

They joined the Jacksonville Jaguars, Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans, all of whom announced plans or began construction on new, multibillion-dollar, luxury football stadiums.

These projects were all also financed with public funds, including $760 million in local bonds approved by the Nashville City Council and $500 million in state bonds to finance the city's new $2.1 billion stadium to finance Titans. As part of the deal, the Titans agreed to pay off the remaining $30 million in federal debt on their current stadium, which opened in 1999.

When the Baltimore Ravens announced a $430 million publicly funded renovation this month, the football team's senior vice president of stadium operations said the facility “is already considered by many to be top-notch.” But “we need to stay current and engaging,” Rich Tamayo said.

The trend goes beyond baseball and football.

On Dec. 12, Oklahoma City voters approved a 1-cent sales tax for a new Thunder basketball team arena that would cost at least $900 million. The next day, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a planned $2 billion development to attract basketball's Washington Wizards and ice hockey's Washington Capitals to a new arena surrounded by a performing arts center, Hotels, a convention center, apartments and retail stores.

The emerging cycle of stadium construction has a “level of extravagance that has increased tremendously” and is expected to peak around 2030, said JC Bradbury, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia who has tracked the projects.

Underlying the space for new stadiums is the assumption that teams could move elsewhere if they don't get what they want – a rare but realistic possibility highlighted by MLB's approval last month for the Oakland Athletics' move from California to Las Vegas was underlined.

The team's new $1.5 billion baseball stadium in Nevada is supported by $380 million in public funding. It will be built not far from the Las Vegas Raiders' $2 billion football home, which opened in 2020 with $750 million in public money from hotel room taxes.

Open image modallyLAS VEGAS, NEVADA – APRIL 21: A view shows the Las Vegas Strip, including the T-Mobile Arena (left), home of the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, behind the site the Oakland Athletics have agreed to in principle, by Red Rock Resorts Inc. to buy. for a potential new baseball stadium on April 21, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A's president Dave Kaval said the deal for the 49-acre property formerly home to the Wild Wild West Gambling Hall & Hotel could be used to move the Major League Baseball franchise from Oakland to Las Vegas embarrassed. The team will now work on a public-private partnership to build a $1.5 billion, 30,000- to 35,000-seat stadium with a partially retractable roof in time for the 2027 season. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Ethan Miller via Getty Images

The Raiders and A's previously shared the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, which was renovated at taxpayer expense in the 1990s to lure the Raiders back from Los Angeles. The remaining $13.5 million in federal debt from that renovation is scheduled to be paid off by February 2025, by which time both teams could be gone.

Longtime A's fan Ken Rettberg is frustrated by both the A's' impending demise and the generous public support that goes to wealthy team owners.

“It's crazy… how they get away with giving away taxpayer money. It’s completely absurd,” said Rettberg, a software engineer who lives near Oakland.

Officials in Wisconsin feared that the Brewers would also leave, taking their tax dollars with them.

When Evers approved public subsidies for the Brewers stadium on Dec. 5, he claimed that “the loss of this team would have had far-reaching impacts on families and communities across the state.” He said the team generates billions of dollars in economic impact annually and support thousands of jobs.

Brewers principal owner Mark Attanasio said other cities have inquired, but “we never thought about going elsewhere.” Records show the Brewers spent $575,000 lobbying lawmakers from January to June.

American Family Field, home of the Brewers, opened in 2001 at the height of the latest round of stadium construction nationwide, as cities replaced multi-purpose facilities with glitzier, sports-specific structures. Public funding covered nearly three-quarters of the $392 million cost.

Wisconsin's latest stadium contract is for nearly $674 million in renovations, including a total of about $500 million from the state, county and city.

Ultimately, not everyone supports the effort to renovate or replace stadiums, or the trend of making taxpayers foot the bill.

The Titans' new stadium will receive the nation's largest public subsidy for a professional sports facility. But in September, voters overturned and elected a progressive city councilman who had voted against the subsidy as mayor.

The Chicago Bears bought a former suburban horse racing track in February as a potential site for a new football stadium and surrounding development, but have not yet moved forward with a potentially controversial move from downtown. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority still owes $589 million through 2032 from public bonds issued two decades ago for a renovation of the Bears' current stadium.

Many economists believe that public financing of stadiums is not worthwhile because sports tend to divert discretionary spending from other forms of entertainment rather than generating new revenue.

“When you ask economists whether we should fund sports stadiums, they can't say 'no' fast enough,” Bradbury said. “But if you ask a politician, he can't say 'yes' fast enough.”

Public opinion seems mixed.

A survey conducted last year for Arizona State University's Global Sport Institute found that professional sports teams were viewed as a necessary cultural part of the community by 60% of respondents. Still, fewer than half believed state and local governments should provide public money for sports stadiums.

The proposal to build a new Royals stadium closer to downtown Kansas City spurred thousands of fans to join a Facebook page advocating for the preservation of the current stadium. The high level of public funding is part of their objection.

“We have a perfectly good stadium there that was recently renovated, and we're still paying for it,” said Royals fan Jim Meyer, a site administrator. He added: “There’s no real reason to replace it.”

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