October 14, 2023
Today's episode of Can We Believe the Arena-entertainment district hype?
If pro-sports venues are not found to increase economic activity, then why would we think relocating and downsizing to an 8,000 seat capacity OU basketball facility would be different?
There has been a LOT of research on the economic impacts of sports stadiums/arenas. These largely fail to find strong positive impacts and place a high level of doubt about the credibility of marketing studies (CSL, Legacy, etc.) which project large economic gains. (There are many reasons why the "studies" paid for by the advocates project unrealistically large gains. "What do you want the answer to be boss?" )
Here's a really neat study that tests the hypothesis that arenas largely redistribute economic activity, but don't generate net increase. This peer reviewed economic analysis looks at the relocation of the Dallas Cowboy's stadium and its impact on the losing area (Arlington) and the winning area (Dallas-Fort Worth). Yep, they find negligible positive impacts on the City budgets.
"We also find that the new stadium increased spending in the accommodation, food services, and entertainment industries, but these were offset by relatively large losses in retail spending."
PS - it also cites my research 🙂
Bottom line: using public tax dollars to relocate OU basketball from campus to the north area of the UNP district makes no economic sense.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-39248-1_9?fbclid=IwAR00vf9S3clLL_OkS-L09Ygz5zYw4j7Dv1I2lwwuqpakm_JpTB4udS_bK_M
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