Some easy reading...

June 02, 2008

Noah Taubman

Some easy reading...

Below is a paper I wrote for a course I took about Los Angeles. My paper focuses on the highly unique atmosphere of Los Angeles and more specifically how it affects LA's sports culture.

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Over the past century Los Angeles has built a reputation for being a professional sports mecca; numerous sports franchises such as the Dodgers and Lakers have learned to thrive on the diversity Los Angeles brings to its stadiums and become as successful off the fields, as they have been on them. The focus of the paper will be on the extremely diverse and nuanced political dynamics within Los Angeles sports culture. More specifically, I will look at different aspects of the politics, including the economics behind running a team along with the politics behind the building/renovations of stadiums. This will explain the political stalemate between the NFL and the city of Los Angeles, along with the reasons behind the lack of a professional football team in LA. This includes looking into the economic advantages and disadvantages of building a new stadium within the city, and the difficult logistical decisions that must be made. I will then move on to investigate the current renovations proposed for Dodger Stadium, and how this should not have surprised anyone. The larger issue of Gentrification has become extremely common within sports politics; I wish to look at these issues regarding the renovations of Dodger Stadium, the Coliseum, and the newly proposed Rose Bowl plan, and explore possible issues of race.

One of, if not, the only communal aspect of any modern city, are its sports teams. Despite what Fogelson describes as a “Fragmented Metropolis,” sports have had the ability to transcend the lack of any other type of communal structure. It is almost eerily efficient how citizens from all backgrounds, lifestyles, races, religions, economic status, and age, can all be drawn to a professional sports team. Los Angeles, and more specifically the sports franchises within it, has mastered the ability to attract all types of fans. One of the best examples of this is the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. In 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers left New York to become the first professional sports franchise to call any west coast city home. After moving into Dodger Stadium in 1962, the Dodgers have become one of the more successful professional baseball clubs within the Major Leagues, winning 5 world championships in Los Angeles. Their success on the baseball diamond has become a back story to the storied fanbase the Dodgers have built over time; priding themselves on their ability to unite all types of fans from the diverse city of LA.. This highly diverse atmosphere within the stadium itself is a result of a plethora of seating options with highly variable pricing. This, along with the excellent marketing of its homegrown talent, which includes many players of latino origin, has resulted in Dodger Stadium and the organization itself becoming a blueprint for other franchises looking to build up their own fanbases.

Much to their liking, the Lakers have received the same success within LA sports culture. After moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960, the Lakers have won 9 NBA Championships, including the unforgettable three-peat between 2000-2002. Similar to the Dodgers, the Lakers originally focused on affordable seating with the addition of eccentric players and coaches to build up their fan support. This surprisingly included a very high percentage of Latino fans in a sport predominately driven by African-American players.

Unfortunately for sports fans in Los Angeles, the successes both the Dodgers and Lakers received were nonexistent for the two professional football franchises that would both end up leaving the city before the end of the century.

With the Rams moving to Los Angeles in 1946, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum would host its first professional sports team besides the Trojans of the University of California. The Rams would enjoy general success, however would leave the Coliseum in 1979 for Anaheim over stadium disputes; leaving southern California altogether before the ’95 season. The Oakland Raiders, who in 1982 moved to Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, would also leave the city altogether after owner Al Davis grew upset with the Los Angeles Sports Commission over their handling of the proposed renovations towards the Coliseum.

In 1999, hope for the possibility of a football team returning to LA was renewed when the NFL awarded the 32^nd Franchise to the city, and again, the inability for the two parties to decide upon a stadium site led to the franchise being redirected towards Houston. And just like so, the short yet heated history between Los Angeles and the National Football League began.

Much like its ancient predecessor in Rome, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum has continued to be the focus of the harsh battles being fought between the city and the NFL. The Coliseum continues to be attacked for what the NFL considers a highly undeveloped stadium. The NFL argues that the aged Coliseum lacks both the club seating and luxury boxes that are now seen in a majority of much newer stadiums around the country; a team that called the Coliseum home would be at huge disadvantage without the major revenues that are acquired by theses services. Estimates for the renovation of the Coliseum have been as high as $800 million, while estimates for a new stadium continued to be quoted at more than $1 billion.

With an estimated 10 million people living within the county there is no shortage of potential fans for a team, and with the growing importance over the economic aspects of owning a team, fans have become an increasingly important factor in economic decision making within the organization. This same thought process, owners say, has led to the recent shift in focus to the need for modern amenities such as luxury boxes and club seating. Luxury boxes are designated, enclosed seating areas located around the stadium. They are usually purchased for the entire year, and allow the owner access to the box during any event that stadium may hold; this can include a sporting event, concert, or the Super Bowl. If boxes remain unoccupied, the team can elect to rent out these boxes on a game by game, or event by event basis. The average NFL stadium consists of around 80-90 suites, with the more modern stadiums averaging up to 120. They can range in price between $50,000-$10,000, with some of the more popular venues getting more than $200,000 a suite. Luxury boxes remain an integral part of a franchises income largely due to the fact that they are not subject to the same revenue sharing other seats are subject to, meaning that the team receives all the revenue generated by their own luxury boxes unlike their standard ticket sales.

This lack of luxury suites and club seating options, allows the 87-year-old Coliseum to be an easy target for the NFL. However, the Los Angeles City Council has continued to express willingness towards the renovation of the Coliseum. A ebate rages over whether or not this would be an appropriate use of municipal funds. This discussion however, holds no real importance as long as the NFL and LA City Council are unable to decide upon possible options. The City Council will obviously stand by the Coliseum due to its relative lack of political opponents from trying to block the renovation, along with what they believe are significant economic boosts the renovation will bring.

According to Paul Peterson’s “City Limits”, Los Angeles should be scampering to pour as much funds as possible into the Coliseum, or a whole new stadium for that matter. Peterson’s Public Choice Theory speaks of a city as a glorified firm. The cities’ goal is to do everything it can to be as attractive as possible for prospective businesses. This is done in the hopes to draw as many citizens as possible, in a general competition between metropolises for people. As a firm, the cities Unitary Interest is primarily driven by economic factors – thus many of the opinions of citizens regarding the franchise moving to the city should be a non-issue if City Council determines the economic advancement as too great to pass up.

Supporters of the Coliseum plan such as Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, who’s Eight District housed Exposition Park, believes that the economic boom an NFL franchise would bring, can strengthen not only the entire city of Los Angeles, but also the exceptionally weak area directly surrounding the Coliseum. According to an interview with Jon Regardie of LA Downtown News:

“A revamped Coliseum, at the southern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, presents an unprecedented opportunity for economic development, one that could serve as a catalyst for the neighborhoods around Exposition Park. It's why, while in the State Assembly, he authored AB 2805, a bill (already signed by the governor) that would provide $250 million in tax increments for the area around the stadium if a team came here to play. That includes more than $150 million in tax increment revenues for housing.”

This same reasoning has been consistently used to support the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars into stadiums around the world. The direct impact of Peterson’s model of Public Choice has been discussed below:

“Proponents of the half-billion- dollar Skydome in Toronto claimed that this facility would generate $450 million in Canadian dollars in the first year of operation and create 17,000 jobs in the Toronto area. Half a decade ago, prospective NFL team owners in Jacksonville, Florida, claimed that a new NFL franchise would generate $340 million in new income in the city and create 3,000 jobs. In a recent case, the Baltimore Sun reported in April of 1999 that a new study supported tearing down the existing 36-year-old Baltimore Arena and replacing it with a new $200 million dollar facility. This investment, the study claims, will raise city taxes by $3.8 million and state taxes by $6.3 million. In addition, the facility could generate up to $100 million in new earnings for the citizens of the city of Baltimore.” (The Stadium Gambit and Local Economic Development, 2000)

Continuing the support of Peterson’s model, Humphreys (1994) determined that the economic boost seen when Georgia hosted the Super Bowl in 1994 included a surge of almost 3,000 jobs, along with an increase of $166 million in spending and $56 million in additional profits.

Still, despite the apparent benefits a stadium would provide the local economy, skeptics continue to sack both the Coliseum plan, along with any plan for a new stadium. Arguing the funds would be better spent by simply funneling them into healthcare, education, crime prevention, etc. Not only would this ensure the funds get to their desired targets, but this also sidesteps the risk in what they consider the hail marry attempt by the supporters. Still, what is beginning to appear is a new type of critic which not only disagrees with the use of the funds, but believes even if the funds were used to build a stadium, the economic boost is non-existent.

According to Professional Sports Facilities, Franchises and Urban Economic Development by Dennis Coates and Brad R. Humphreys, the economic booms proposed by stadium supporters are based in misinformation, and simply do not exist. The supposed increase in spending a stadium would bring is simply a redirection of citizens’ spending; “Residents maintain their level of entertainment spending but alter the allocation of this spending toward sport-related spending and away from other close substitutes…” rather, “…Sports [simply] redirect spending by residents from one part of the local economy to another.” (Professional Sports Facilities, Franchises and Urban Economic Development, pg. 9)

On top of this, the proposed increase in out-of-town fans bringing their purchasing power to a the city, has been deemed non-existent too: “Porter (1999) and Porter and Fletcher (2002) report little or no increase in hotel occupancy rates, retail sales, or airport traffic in cities that hosted Super Bowls and Olympic Games in the U.S. in the past ten years.” (Professional Sports Facilities, Franchises and Urban Economic Development, pg. 8)

Lastly, the only increase in revenues this study saw was within the organizations themselves. The increased salaries of the highly-paid players, coaches, trainers, and agents would in theory provide an economic benefit to the city; however Coates and Humphreys are quick to point out that the spending patterns of these specialized citizens is much different than the average worker. Not only do many of these players call other cities home, but they tend to save more, and spend less than the average laborer. The truth is, “…the wealthy tend to save more than the non-wealthy and because the high earnings of players are transitory and a substantial fraction will be saved until the years after their playing days are over.”

It is worth noting that Coates and Humphreys saw the only major increases in revenues for the cities were seen in what they describe as “Mega-Events” such as the Super Bowl.

As mentioned before, the Coliseum has been consistently rejected by the NFL as a viable option for any professional franchise, citing its lack of luxury amenities as its main reason. This is simply another sign in the recent shift in money making tactics by professional teams in the last twenty years. When the Coliseum was built near the early part of the century, it represented the typical sports complex of its time –built on cheap land, it provided a clear view of the field to everyone, while holding over 100,000 people, with a relatively simple pricing plan. The introduction of modern stadiums has not only lowered the amount of available seating to an average of 60,000-70,000 fans, but has focused on these luxury services. The recent shift towards the upper-middle class sports consumer is quite apparent.

In June 2006, the citizens of Pasadena voted on a measure which would put into motion a renovation plan specifically designed for the Rose Bowl in the hopes to attract a possible NFL suitor. Leading up to the vote, citizens against the increased traffic, unsightly skylines and potential for rowdy fans and NFL stadium would bring to the city, protested. As a result, 71% voted against the measure. Comically, the same upper-middle class which the NFL is directly trying to target with is marketing, is rejecting the building of the stadium within their community. This idea of NIMBYism, or ‘Not In My Backyard,’ is becoming more and more apparent within Los Angeles. Citizens, especially those that live in the more expensive parts of the city, would much rather the stadium built in another area other than theirs. What results is the increased gentrification in areas which are currently untouched by these franchises, or the renovations of older stadiums. Gentrification, and more specifically, gentrification seen within sports culture, has become more prominent within larger cities. Attention has recently shifted to the proposed $500 million Dodger Stadium renovation that owner Frank McCourt announced. Scheduled to be finished by 2012, the addition includes a promenade attached to the stadium housing numerous non-baseball related shops and high-end restaurants, along with adding an unspecified amount of upper tier seating. This increase in club seating and promenade amenities is being marketed to a largely white, upper-middle class fan.

While the NFL continued to reject the Coliseum, many people question whether the fact that University Park, the district surrounding the stadium, was 91% non-white, had any effect on the NFL’s unwillingness to settle there. The same can be said about the proposed renovations of Dodger Stadium; were they simply a response to the increased complaints about the ‘family environment’ being compromised? Is it simply coincidence that as the latino fanbase for all major sports teams continues to grow, franchises are shifting their focus on the upper-middle class citizen?

What remains is a dilemma which is based in the lack of political willpower; which a progressively weaker middle class only intensifies. Ambiguity surrounds any proposed stadium, as upper-middle class constituents are unsure about the type of fan the franchise will bring. With this hesitation, brings the unwillingness for constituents to push his or her local government to fight for a stadium in their community.

In terms of the future possibilities of professional NFL team coming to Los Angeles, it is apparent that any plan, whether it deals with the Coliseum or not, will need to have heavy funding by the private sector. The latest story on this, involves billionaire Edward P. Roskin, part owner of the Lakers and Kings, funding an estimated $800 million stadium in the City of Industry. He has been very vocal over the fact he does not plan on asking the city for funding, and neither does he expect it; however he is currently in talks with the NFL over possible loan options.

What the future holds for both Los Angeles sports culture and politics is unknown. As ticket prices maintain their upward trend, and the renovations to Dodger Stadium are completed, it will be interesting to see how the non-upper tier fans react. As the common fan grows disinterested with the glorification of the sport, how will the franchise deal with a small increase in high-profile fans, with a huge decrease in low-tier fans? The sports stadium of the future might simply be a small field with 300 or so luxury boxes going for quarter of a million dollars, while all other enthusiasts watch on television or not at all.

Works Cited

Coates, Dennis, and Brad R. Humphreys. "Professional Sports Facilities, Franchises, and Urban Economic Development." UMBC Economics Department 3.

Peterson, Paul E. City Limits. Chicago: University of Chicago P, 1981.

Fogelson, Robert M. The Fragmented Metropolis. London: University of California P, 1993.

Coates, Dennis and Brad R. Humphreys. “The Stadium Gambit and Local Economic Development,” Regulation. 32:2: p15-20. June 2000.

Dodgers, NFL reportedly discuss stadium deal http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/10635496/from/RL.2/

A Trip Down Ugly Memory Lane

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2006/12/11/news/news03.txt

N.F.L. Considers Its Options In Los Angeles

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/14/sports/football/14nfl.html?_r=1&oref=slogin r

Mayor Villaraigosa says Coliseum isn't 'viable option' for NFL

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-mayor29nov29,1,4057525.story