Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | December 11, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 9 A look at 10 recently built minor-league baseball stadiums, their costs and funding sources. Minor-league financing Stadium Location Opening Public Funding Dunkin' Donuts Park Hartford, Conn. 2017 $71 million from city Spirit Communications Park Columbia, S.C. 2016 $56 million from city* First Tennessee Park Nashville, Tenn. 2015 $90 million from city* MGM Park Biloxi, Miss. 2015 $36.5 million from city BB&T Park Charlotte 2014 $16 million split by city and county Southwestern University Park El Paso, Texas 2014 $64 million from the city Regions Field Birmingham, Ala. 2013 $64 million from city Warner Park Papillon, Neb. 2011 $29 million from the county Huntington Park Columbus, Ohio 2009 $42.5 million from county Coolray Field Lawrenceville, Ga. 2009 $64 million from county *Including related costs, such as infrastructure improvements Source: News reports professional sports, and they've increased exponentially in recent years. The new Atlanta Braves ballpark – which replaced one built for the 1996 Olympics – cost Cobb County $400 million. The Bengals' and Reds' stadi- ums in Cincinnati cost Hamilton County so much – $540 million – it sold a hospital in 2011 to help make up for sports-related tax payments that fell well short of expectations. Baseball teams playing at the same level as the Pawtucket Red Sox – Triple-A, the highest level before teams like the Boston Red Sox – have moved into expensive publicly owned stadi- ums. In El Paso, Texas, the city spent $64 million on a ballpark opened in 2014. In 2015, a park opened in Biloxi, Miss., costing the city $36.5 million. Local media reports indicate in sever- al instances, particularly around parks outside Atlanta and Omaha, Neb., reve- nue hasn't matched forecasts, and relat- ed development hasn't come to fruition. "It's a terrible business model to try to build a business district around [a stadium,]" said DeMause. Economists have found that the money fans spend at games would have otherwise been spent on other enter- tainment in the community. Matheson said a minor-league ball- park's economic impact is about the same as a 16-screen movie theater com- plex, in terms of total attendance and amount spent. Gil Fried, a business pro- fessor at the University of New Haven, said the economic impact of a stadium is about the same as a Walmart. Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty, City Manager Ed Augustus, and the PawSox declined interviews for this story. The Pawtucket stadium The PawSox's current home offers an example of the challenges of building desireable development surrounding the stadium. McCoy Stadium was built 75 years ago, but is still surrounded by working-class housing, two schools and a few industrial properties. Only a handful of restaurants sit within a short walk from the park. An economic study conducted for Pawtucket and the PawSox found a pro- posed $76-million stadium would pay for itself through new revenue. The ballpark, the study said, would create more than $3 million a year in new tax revenue in the first five years after the park opens and $58.7 million over a 30-year period. The park would directly create $12.7 million a year in economic activity, and $5.9 million in wages, and indirectly create another $10 million in economic activity and $12.7 million in wages, the study said. The study projected benefits from up to $110 million in related development could be built just outside the stadium. No such study has been done yet for the proposed Worcester site, the so- called Wyman Gordon site off Madison Street a few blocks from Kelley Square. Those studies – often paid for by officials wanting to justify building a stadium – have their detractors. "Those things are a piece of junk," said Fried. A tale of three Connecticut cities Three Connecticut cities provide dif- ferent lessons for public stadiums. In Hartford, the city – which has been close to bankruptcy – built a $71-million ballpark for a baseball team to move about a dozen miles east from New Britain. The ballpark, which host- ed its first games this spring, ended up opening a year late and over budget, and has led to lawsuits between the city and the ballpark builder. Development envisioned as a byproduct of the ball- park has yet to come to fruition. In New Haven, city officials decided years ago the site of its arena would be better served in another use. The arena, slightly smaller than Worcester's DCU Center, was torn down in 2007 but has not been replaced. A proposal calls for a $450-million project including housing units, businesses and a hotel. The city, under then-mayor John DeStefano Jr., decided it would rather be a city of the arts than of sports, Fried said. "He didn't give a damn about tearing down the old Coliseum," Fried said. Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim said he wants to turn the city's ballpark, which hosts an independent team, into an amphitheater. The team is moving to North Carolina. W The minor league Red Sox existing stadium in Pawtucket isn't situated in an area where neighboring businesses can take advantage of fans attending the game. P H O T O / G R A N T W E L K E R

• Cover