redevelopment, community identity, public/private relationship, economics, regeneration
Growing up as a sports fan I have noticed an increased trend in the amount of teams that relocate to a different city or to a different place within the same city. I have always assumed that this was solely for the interest of private gain on behalf of the sport franchises, but now realize it is more than that. The process of moving a professional franchise is based on a relationship of private and public forces working together to benefit all parties to the best of their ability. Cities have to go through intensive planning for both their city infrastructure and economy to ensure that the move will be a feasible and profitable one. Sports fans are not the only people that care about this subject as the potential effects of a project the magnitude of building a stadium can touch the lives of everyone as it can potentially create jobs, bring about revenue for the community, etc. By doing this research project I hope to shed the light on some of the more intricate details that go into running a sports franchise and the public can play a role in determining its fate.
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http://www.sandiego.gov/qualcomm/about/qsab.shtml
Professional sports are a multi-billion dollar industry. Many owners are billionaires, athletes are millionaires, yet there is little focus on how these franchises affect city planning and public policy. This proposal will look more specifically into team relocations and how each player in the process comes to their conclusions on if relocation is beneficial to the area it goes to and how it adversely affects the area it leaves. Especially in the modern era there has been an increased emphasis on maximizing the city’s ability to market a professional team and increase revenue for the franchise while also having reciprocating effects on the city. When a team is about to relocate the public policy questions dictate whether or not an area can receive a team. Redevelopment law lay out certain criteria businesses must meet if they want to have a project on such a large scale take place. City Councils determine if projects fit into the overall community development plans and the people voice their opinion on whether they would like to take potential hikes in taxes to help finance these projects at the ballot box. In order to determine if sport relocation, focusing on the current attempt to relocate Qualcomm stadium, is a public good local government documents will be looked at to determine how efficiently the process is done. Other case studies will be used looking at teams that have moved in the past and other current looking at relocation. Surveys in proposed moving places will be conducted to get an overall feel on how the citizens perceive a professional team changing the landscape of their neighborhoods. City officials will be interviewed as well as potentially others who have a say in the public policy debates when it comes to team relocation. The project will bring to light the complexities involved in the relationship between sports franchises and the cities they inhabit.
People often view sport team movement as a way for private organizations to profit, but they do not realize the effects these stadium moves have on the redevelopment and economy of a city. This study analyzed the effects on redevelopment that Qualcomm Stadium will have if/when it moves to a new downtown location in San Diego. To accomplish this feat I interviewed public officials and those in private organizations associated with the subject, conducted surveys with the general public, looked at different case studies, etc. The goal was to gain firsthand knowledge of redevelopment strategies in the city and how they will affect the people themselves. In my findings I have concluded that moving Qualcomm Stadium to the East Village part of downtown will revitalize an otherwise struggling part of the city. It will benefit the people through added economic benefits of new businesses as well as obtaining a new sense of community identity in an area that is typically associated with drug use and other illegal activity.
When it comes to sports the casual fan is usually willing to do whatever it takes to keep a professional team in their locale. Just wanting a team to stay is not enough, though, as cities must try to maintain some sort of incentive to keep a professional team local. My project will help people realize that it is better to look at all aspects of relocating a stadium to a different part of town because sometimes it just does not make sense or the benefits are not what people are led to believe most of the time. Local businesses are affected as they may be required to move under the guise of redevelopment, the infrastructure of the city is affected especially in the transportation department, and the citizens that live in the area where e the stadium will be located are affected on a day-by-day basis. In a majority of cases people are forced to put their own money into building a stadium through taxes so the impact goes beyond the community where the stadium will be built and into the city at large. It is important to know what is being promised by these private organizations and to hold them to their word as more often than not the city is left footing a lot of the bill to keep a team around when at first they were promised otherwise.
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