Spatial Analysis of Sports Stadiums and ARENAS

If they build, who will come?

Micah GaudetM01312872

Why do we gladly brave rush-hour-like traffic just to get a parking spot, and then walk half a mile to sit on a hard, sometimes wet, plastic seat and drink overpriced, warm beer?

Whatever the reason, sports arenas have capitalized on this phenomenon and cashed in hefty paychecks. This paper will look at the spatial relationship between sports arenas and

their communities and seek to answer, geospatially, why sports arenas are located where they are.

Gaudet 1

Micah Gaudet

April 16, 2015

ECON 4400

Spatial Economic Analysis:

If They Build, Who Will Come?

The sport’s arena may be the last great conglomeration of humanity. In a fast-moving

world driven by phones, tablets, and computers, there is an understated void of human

interaction. Generations ago, religious buildings, such as churches, mosques, and temples,

served as meeting places. Bars, clubs, movies, and schools all provided ways for us to interact

with each other. Today, regular attendance at religious meeting places is on the decline, and

online education is a popular choice for many students. With online video streaming services

like Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime, families and individuals can watch a film in the comfort of

their living room for a fraction of what it would cost to attend the movies, and, you can bring your

own snacks! Open the door of a bar or club and one will see people, some even sitting

together, but most are buried within five inches of screen, as they check the latest comments on

their social media app. Our interactions with people come in group-selfies. So, what is it about

sports stadiums that compel phone-junkies to silence their devices and engage with other

people (people they have likely never met before, nor see again)? What drives us to celebrate

and cheer with strangers, for strangers? Why do we gladly brave rush-hour-like traffic just to

get a parking spot, and then walk half a mile to sit on a hard, sometimes wet, plastic seat and

drink overpriced, warm beer? Whatever the reason, sports franchises have capitalized on this

Gaudet 2

phenomenon and cashed in hefty paychecks. This paper will look at the spatial relationship

between sports arenas and their communities and seek to answer, geospatially, why sports

arenas and stadiums are located where they are.

When engaging in any type of analytical work, it is critical to set well-defined borders and

boundaries. Our world is a connected and interlaced ball of twine; pulling on one end of the

string may unravel the entire thing. Therefore, when the analyst begins examining and studying

one aspect of the diverse world, he may find himself chasing down a proverbial rabbit role if he

is not careful. The first boundary we will construct is the distinction between spatial analysis

and general analytics. When discussing the economic impact of sports arenas and stadiums, it

is important to delineate and distinguish between the two. This paper is not about the

intangibles. The purpose, here, is not to look at the revenue from the sale of licensed

merchandize or tickets. That type of analysis is outside the scope of what this paper will

examine. Now that it has been established what this paper is not, it is time to turn the spotlight

on to what this paper aims to accomplish. This paper will seek to understand why teams

construct sports arenas and stadiums at their particular location. This will be accomplished

using case studies from two unique and storied sports franchises. One of the most important

economic factors in our world today is housing and property values. Both owner and buyers

want their purchases to increase in value. Several factors affect property values, both

negatively and positively. Do sports arenas have an impact on property values? We will

examine two semi-recent stadium renovations, one in Green Bay, Wisconsin and another in

Nashville, Tennessee.

Table 1: Parcel Data for the Area Surrounding Lambeau Field, 2009

Distance from Lambeau (miles)

# of Parcels 0.25 0.5 0.75 Total

Commercial 18 28 42 88

Industrial 32 32

Residential 171 931 1,452 2,554

Public Use 1 6 23 30

Total 190 965 1549 2704

Total Acres

Commercial 22.5 16.4 34.1 73.0

Industrial 41.8 41.8

Residential 35.6 214.1 362.5 612.2

Public Use 52.7 9.6 51.4 113.7

Total 110.9 240.0 489.8 840.7

Average Size (in Acres)

Commercial 1.25 0.58 0.81 0.83

Industrial 1.31 1.31

Residential 0.21 0.23 0.25 0.24

Public Use 52.73 1.60 2.23 3.79

Total 0.58 0.25 0.32 0.31

Gaudet 3

The National Football League franchise, the Green Bay Packers commissioned an

extensive economic impact report in 2010 (AECOM Techinical Services, Inc). The report looks

at the impact of the stadium renovations completed back in 2003. One of the more engaging

sections of this report examines this issue of property values. According to the report, there are

2,700 land parcels located within 0.75 miles from Lambeau Field (AECOM Techinical Services,

Inc). Residential lots generally increase in size as they move further from the stadium. The

report suggests that the land size of the original neighborhood was smaller, size wise,

compared to more recent developments. In addition, within a quarter mile, commercial

properties make up

twenty percent of total

land use, but drops to

seven percent after the

first quarter mile. Table

1 visualizes this data

very well (AECOM

Techinical Services,

Inc). Commercial land

is significantly more

Gaudet 4

valuable the closer to the stadium. Within a quarter mile, commercial land is averaging

$325,000 per acre; within half a mile: $248,000 per acre; within three quarters of a mile:

$273,000 per acre

(AECOM Techinical

Services, Inc).

Somewhat

surprisingly,

residential land value

decreased in

proximity of the

stadium. It priced at

$100,000 per acre, while those in radii of half a mile and three quarters of a mile valued at

$103,000 per acre and $115,000 per acre, respectively. Commercial land benefits from the

presence of Lambeau Field. This is somewhat shocking, considering the business distribution

within 0.75 miles of the stadium (see Chart 1 (AECOM Techinical Services, Inc)). “Currently,

each fullservice [sic] restaurant outside the Lambeau area and within Brown County generates

an average of $890,000 in sales annually. Those closer to the stadium generate $1.5 million on

average. The difference is $610,000 per restaurant, or over $12 million in sales across all full-

service restaurants near Lambeau. Combined with the difference in Lambeau-area drinking

place revenues, the difference by total sales is between $15 million and $20 million (AECOM

Techinical Services, Inc).” To summarize, there is no indication of Lambeau Field positively

affecting residential lot values. In fact, there is a slight decrease in value closer to the stadium.

This, however, is not the case with commercial land, as these lots see a seventy-six percent

increase in value, nearing the stadium from a half to a quarter mile.

0-0.75 miles Green Bay & Ashwaubenon

Brown County Total 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

CHART 1: Businesses Near Lambeau Field, 2008

Gas Stations Department Stores Full Service RestaurantsLimited Service Restaurants Bars, Pubs, Taverns, etc

Gaudet 5

Our second case study is a little different. We do not have the luxury of an eighty-six

page economic impact report, as we had with the Green Bay Packers case study. Here, we will

have to analyze the data and come to our own conclusions, but first, a little background. The

Nashville Sounds, a Minor League affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, recently finished a $60+

million new stadium in downtown Nashville, Tennessee (Boyer). This section will seek to

answer why the Sounds organization decided on 401 Jackson Street as their new location.

Minor league baseball is a unique part of Nashville. It is unique because, like major

league sports, it too depends on sports enthusiasts to bring in revenue. However, unlike the

Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators (or even Memphis Grizzlies), the Nashville Sounds

do not have large-scale media exposure. They rely mostly on local news outlets to broadcast

and recap their games. You may find them on sports websites such as ESPN.com or

CBSSPORTS.com, but you are most likely already a fan if you know how deep into those

websites to look. The Nashville Sounds chose the location of First Tennessee Park to increase

revenue and build community support for the team.

When constructing or relocating a stadium there are three crucial factors that go into

location planning. First is lot size:

First Tennessee Park can seat 10,000

fans (Wikipedia). Although relatively

small compared to major league

baseball stadiums, building an arena

with a 10,000 person seating capacity

in metro Nashville is no small task.

Photo 1

Bing.com/Maps

BrileyPkwy

Gaudet 6

The second factor is parking. If everyone drove to the game with someone else, you would still

need parking for 5,000 vehicles. The average parking space is about 320 square feet

(DimensionsInfo). The Sounds would need to build, or be located in close proximity to, over 1.6

million square feet of parking space. We project over 1.6 million, because vehicles need room

to exit their parking spaces. Lastly, and we have already briefly touched on this, stadiums need

to be easily accessible. Take

Photo 1, for example, and

assume the land is for sale at a

reasonable price and the terrain

in the reddened area is even

and conducive to large-scale

construction. There is enough

space to build with room

leftover for parking lots. It is near, what looks to be a decent-sized subdivision, so it is in close

proximity to potential fans and stadium-goers. Why not build First Tennessee Park across the

river from Briley Parkway? Answer: Stadiums must be easily accessible. The roads have to

both encourage and support massive ingress and egress. Remember the 5,000 cars? All those

cars depend on the efficiency of the roads near the stadium in order to safely and effectively go

to and from the stadium. With these three criteria in mind, examine an aerial photograph of First

Tennessee Park (Photo 2). The reddened circle highlights the stadium. One can definitely see

ample space for stadium construction, so criterion one is met. The yellow circles show parking

lots around the stadium. Although, not every lot may be accessible to fans, there is ample

parking space to accommodate stadium-goers; criterion two has been met. For criterion three,

we need a less magnified view of the area (See Photo 3). The yellow arrows show direct routes

to Interstate 65 and Interstate 24. This means, with relatively minor difficulty, fans can come

and go to the stadium with ease.

Photo 2

Bing.com/Maps

LegendTrfcHistADT_2013 / ADT_2011

0.08680 - 0.9295

0.9296 - 1.132

1.133 - 2.314

2.315 - 5.625

tl_2014_47_prisecroads

Gaudet 7

We already highlighted the dependency of minor league baseball on fans and

community support. With

that in mind, this section will

explore possible reasons for

the location of First

Tennessee Park. The new

Sounds’ park seems to be

ideally located. It is nestled

between five major roads: Interstate 64, Interstate 24, Interstate 440, Rosa Parks Boulevard,

and James Robertson Parkway. The Tennessee Department of Transportation Annual Average

Daily Traffic (AADT) count along the major perimeter roads in our case study, show an AADT of

around 400,000 vehicles (Tennessee Department of Transportation). This number is

exponentially multiplied, when considering traffic near Centennial Park, The Country Music Hall

of Fame and Museum, the state capitol, and even LP Field. Another factor may be the close

proximity of Vanderbilt University. It may be a stretch, but having a professional baseball

stadium near the reigning

NCAA World Series

Champions can only help

booster the Sounds’

market. First Tennessee

Park is located in a

perfect spot to attract

future fans and hot-dog

buyers. The jury is still

TDOT AADT of Downtown Nashville

Photo 3

Bing.com/Maps

Gaudet 8

out on how well Nashville and middle Tennessee embrace the new location. Baseball is

becoming a less popular sport; it is no longer “America’s past-time.” It will be fascinating to see

what happens and how well the Sounds profit in its new location.

Using two unique examples in the Green Bay Packers and the Nashville Sounds, this

paper looked at the spatial relationship of sports arenas and stadiums to their surrounding

communties. Examining an extensive report gave insight into the impact of the renovation of

Lambeau Field, home to the Packers. Taking the lessons learned from the Packer report, and

those learned in class, we then applied them to our own case study in the Nashville Sounds.

Doing so allowed us to answer why the Sounds chose 401 Jefferson Street as the location for

First Tennessee Park. Sports will continue to make an impact in our lives and communities.

Using spatial economic analysis, city officials and franchise owners understand this and seek to

capitalize on our passion and fandom.

Gaudet 9

Works Cited

AECOM Techinical Services, Inc. Economic Impact Study of the Green Bay Packers and the

Redeveloped Lambeau Field. Project. Green Bay, WI: AECOM, 2010. PDF. 8 April

2015.

Boyer, EJ. Nashville Sounds' new stadium takes shape, but big questions remain. 5 February

2015. Nashville Business Journal. Web. 18 April 2015.

<http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/blog/2015/02/nashville-sounds-new-stadium-

takes-shape-but-big.html>.

DimensionsInfo. Dimensions of a Parking Space. 2015. DimensionsInfo. Web. 18 April 2015.

<http://www.dimensionsinfo.com/dimensions-of-a-parking-space/>.

Tennessee Department of Transportation. Traffic History. 2013. Web. 18 April 2015.

<http://www.tdot.state.tn.us/TrafficHistory/>.

Wikipedia. First Tennessee Park. 18 April 2015. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. Web. 18 April 2015.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Tennessee_Park>.

Gaudet 10

References

Carroll, Jim, Ted Medhin and Aaron Cadle. Review of Economic Impact of Selected

Professional Sports Venus and Downtown Revitalization Efforts in Oklahoma City. City

of Milwaukee. Milwaukee, WI: Legislative Reference Bureau, 2013. PDF. 18 April 2015.

<http://city.milwaukee.gov/ImageLibrary/Groups/ccCouncil/2013-PDF-2/

Review_SportsVenues_DowntownRe.pdf>.

Green Bay Brown/County Professional Football Stadium District. Economic Impact Study

Questions and Summary Findings. Green Bay, WI: Green Bay Packers, 2010. Web. 18

April 2015.

Mayborne, Bret J. Economic Impact of The Bradley Center. Metropolitan Milwaukee Association

of Commerce. Milwaukee, WI: Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, 2012.

PDF. 18 April 2015.

<bradleycenter.s3.amazonaws.com/doc/MMAC_Bradley_Center_Analysis...>.

Walker, Dr. Sharianne and Dr. Michael Enz. The Impact of Professional Sports on the Local

Economy. Western New England University. Springfield, MA: Western New England

University, 2006. Web. 18 April 2015. <assets.wne.edu/164/15_arti_Impact_o.pdf>.