A Tale of Two Stadiums: Comparing the Economic Impact of Chicago’s Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field

Victor Matheson (), Robert Baade () and Mimi Nikolova
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Robert Baade: Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College
Mimi Nikolova: Department of Economics and Business, Lake Forest College

No 608, Working Papers from College of the Holy Cross, Department of Economics

Abstract: Supporters of sports stadium construction often defend taxpayer subsidies for stadiums by suggesting that sports infrastructure can serve as an anchor for local economic redevelopment. Have such promises of economic rejuvenation been realized? The City of Chicago provides an interesting case study on how a new stadium, U. S. Cellular Field, has been integrated into its southside neighborhood in a way that may well have limited local economic activity. This economic outcome stands in stark contrast to Wrigley Field in northern Chicago which continues to experience a synergistic commercial relationship with its neighborhood.

Keywords: sports; sports; stadiums; development; baseball; Chicago; economic impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L83 O18 R53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo, nep-spo and nep-ure
Date: Written 2006-08
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Published in Geographische Rundschau International Edition, Vol. 3:1, January 2007, pp. 53-58.

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http://www.holycross.edu/departments/economics/RePEc/Matheson_TwoStadiums.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: A Tale of Two Stadiums: Comparing the Economic Impact of Chicago’s Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field (2007)
Working Paper: A Tale of Two Stadiums: Comparing the Economic Impact of Chicago’s Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field (2006)
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