Public Dollars, Private Stadiums

The Battle over Building Sports Stadiums

by Kevin J. Delaney and Rick Eckstein

Published by: Rutgers University Press

Subjects:Sports and Recreation, Sociology

248 Pages, 6.0 x 9.0 in

Paperback
9780813533438
Published: November 5, 2003

Description
Contents
Authors
Praise
Awards

The authors provide an eye-opening account of recent battles over publicly financed stadiums in some of America’s largest cities. Their interviews with the key decision makers present a behind-the-scenes look at how and why powerful individuals and organizations foist these sports palaces on increasingly unreceptive communities.

Delaney and Eckstein show that in the face of studies demonstrating that new sports facilities don’t live up to their promise of big money, proponents are using a new tactic to win public subsidies¾intangible “social” rewards, such as prestige and community cohesion. The authors find these to be empty promises as well, demonstrating that new stadiums may exacerbate, rather than erase, social problems in cities.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Local Growth Coalitions and Publicly Funded Stadiums
2. Strategies for Building Private Stadiums with Public Dollars
3. Cincinnati: Queen City of Local Growth Coalitions
4. Cleveland: The Comeback Growth Coalition
5. Minneapolis and Hartford: Declining Local Growth Coalitions
6. Denver, Phoenix, and San Diego: Nascent Growth Coalitions on the Frontier
7. Pittsburgh and Philadelphia: Strong versus Weak Local Growth Coalitions
8. Public Dollars, Private Stadiums, and Democracy
Appendix: Methodology
Notes
Bibliography
Index

KEVIN J. DELANEY is associate professor of sociology at Temple University and author of Strategic Bankruptcy.

RICK ECKSTEIN is associate professor of sociology and assistant director of the Center for Peace and Justice Education at Villanova University, as well as the author of Nuclear Power and Social Power.

"Public Dollars, Private Stadiums helps us understand the political processes involved in using public money for new sports stadiums. It is a must read for anyone interested in this important new issue."
~Richard E. Lapchick, Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University

"This book is readable and smart . . . Kevin Delaney and Rick Eckstein show how conflicts over sports subsidies are emblematic of the kinds of power relationships that prevail in each community."
~Lee Clarke, author of Mission Improbable: Using Fantasy Documents to Tame Disaster

"Every time you hear a politician or millionaire sports mogul start to promote the benefits of building a brand-spanking new stadium, your immediate reaction, as a taxpayer, should be to watch your wallet. This revealing, dead-on investigation of the modern-day sports stadium boondoggle and its often-devastating impact on American cities is an essential read for anyone, sports fan or not, who wants to avoid getting fleeced.
"
~Steve Lopez,, Los Angeles Times columnist