Professional sports venues as catalysts for revitalization? Perspectives from industry experts

ABSTRACT

Throughout North America, professional sports venues (PSV) have become a prominent urban redevelopment strategy. Much of the previous research related to PSV has focused on economic impacts and the use of public money to help fund construction. Conversely, there is less research exploring the relationship between PSV and the urban environment. To better understand this relationship, we disseminated a web-based survey to planning and development practitioners. Our research explores the degree to which industry experts: (1) perceive PSV as catalysts for development and revitalization; (2) associate PSV siting, policies, and programs with development and revitalization objectives; and (3) believe PSV investments in different (sub)urban locales can affect neighborhood change. Our findings illustrate a high degree of expert optimism, with respondents reporting that they believe PSV have the capacity to generate place-based changes. Their responses support a downtown-centric perspective, as professionals see greater opportunity for PSV to drive change in downtowns relative to more peripheral locations. Notably, respondents indicate that municipalities play a prominent role in supporting PSV outcomes, primarily through the adoption and implementation of key land use, zoning, and planning policies.

KEYWORDS:

• Sports arenas and stadiums
• revitalization
• anchor institution
• special activity generator
• North America

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF), the Westman Centre for Real Estate Studies at the University of Calgary, and the Richard Parker Initiative in Metropolitan Growth and Change.

Notes on contributors

Rylan Graham

Rylan Graham is an assistant professor in the School of Planning and Sustainability at the University of Northern British Columbia.

Meagan M. Ehlenz

Meagan M. Ehlenz is an assistant professor in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at Arizona State University.

Albert T. Han

Albert T. Han is an assistant professor of urban and regional planning in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.