Public Dollars, Private Stadiums: The Battle over Building Sports Stadiums / Edition 1

by Kevin J. Delaney, Rick Eckstein

Overview

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 subsidies—intangible “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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813533438
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	11/05/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

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

Editorial Reviews

"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.
"

Los Angeles Times columnist - Steve Lopez

"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."

Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University - Richard E. Lapchick

"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."

author of Mission Improbable: Using Fantasy Documents to Tame Disaster - Lee Clarke

"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.
"

From the Publisher

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

"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