Ballpark Frankness
By Scott Robertson

The debate over the value of sports facilities to cities continues to rage across North America as more cities, in an effort to compete at the major league level, so to speak, continue to seek means to build stadiums and arenas. Nowhere has that debate raged hotter than in Pittsburgh, where the idea of stadium construction using some public funding rankled many, and is coming around again, thanks to the hopes of the Penguins, who would like to see a new arena built across the street from Mellon Arena, their home for the past 35 seasons.

Except for one point. When it comes to debating the question of whether sports venues are catalysts toward economic development, there is almost no debate at all. Most officials, even those who support the idea of new facilities for sports teams, agree that the venues themselves do not do much to spark economic development.

"I think without doubt the communities that invest in sports arenas and sports venues add to the quality of life in their cities and usually improve the landscape of the areas in which the facilities are built," said Ronnie Bryant, president and chief operating officer of the Pittsburgh Regional Authority. "One of the distinguishing characteristics of a region, when you are trying to attract business to that region, is quality of life, and sports activities and sports facilities play a big role in that. We are fortunate to have three strong professional sports teams here for that reason."

The facilities are used by the PRA to spark additional investment in the city. Bryant pointed out Heinz Field hosted a recent science and technology fair that brought venture capitalists to the city, and that about 15 business relocation specialists will be in town in June, where they will take in a Pirates' game at PNC Park as part of a series of activities designed to show what Pittsburgh has to offer as they look to expand their businesses.

"To have first class facilities like this in place certainly is a plus for the region," Bryant said. "We use the venues, and others in the city, as market hooks, to encourage people to visit the city and to showcase what we have here for when they are looking to relocate or expand their businesses."

Many economists and public policy-makers say that kind of plan sounds good on the surface, but does not work.

Frank Gamrat, Ph.D., senior research associate with the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy in Pittsburgh, is one who holds that view.

"Stadiums and arena's are not catalysts for economic development," Gamrat said. "They were billed to us and sold to us as economic catalysts, but they aren't. All you need to do is look at Three Rivers Stadium, when it was built in the '60s. That was supposed to be a catalyst for hotels, restaurants and the like, and it never happened.

All they got was the Kaufmann's Warehouse and later, the Carnegie Science Center."

Gamrat downplayed the use of the venues to attract business, pointing out that using Heinz Field to host a science and technology fair simply amounted to taking that same business away from a downtown hotel or from the new David L. Lawrence Convention Center. "All that did was put that money in the Rooney's (owners of the Steelers) pocket," Gamrat said.

Gamrat currently is working on studies related to the Penguins proposal for a new arena. That arena would cost an estimated $225 million to build, but the Penguins have tied its construction to a total redevelopment of Pittsburgh's Hill District that would cost in the neighborhood of $700 million.

A Penguins' fan, Gamrat doesn't want to be the one to bring the bad news to the franchise, but again, he says building a new arena will not spark that kind of development.

"Look at Cleveland," he said. "They have Jacobs Field, a new football stadium, the Gund Arena and the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame up there. What else is there?

"Nothing. A couple of bars, that's all. There really has been no economic development around those things."

Part of Gamrat's study lies in looking at privately funded arenas. He pointed out that Nationwide, for example, built the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio for the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets and that MCI built the MCI Center in Washington where the NHL's Capitals and NBA's Wizards play.

"The Penguins say the benefit of a new arena is that something would be there almost every night of the year," Gamrat said. "In other words, if something is there every night, there is money to be made. You would think a private company would want to invest in something like that."

Companies looking to invest in Pittsburgh, he said, are looking for more than sports venues. Pittsburgh, he said, has the things they seek. "When people look to move, by and large, it's because of job opportunities," he said. "To say these amenities are being used to drive business to Pittsburgh does not work. Pittsburgh has a lot more than sports stadiums to offer—there's the zoo, the aviary, the Cultural District, the museums, lakes, parks and rivers—all kinds of things here make this a wonderful city. We have more amenities than any city our size. To say the stadiums are a draw - if (the stadiums) weren't here, those other things still would be."

Others take a different view. Peter A. Lauterbach, owner and chef at Bravo Franco restaurant on Penn Ave., just across the Roberto Clemente Bridge from PNC Park, says his business has increased since the stadiums opened and believes more development is on the way as a result of their presence.

"There is some economic development happening," Lauterbach said. "There definitely have been signs of an uptick. It's not what I would call real strong right now, but things are definitely getting better. There are more people in the city on game days, and that's a positive thing. "Now we're hearing talk that more hotels are interested in the city and that the Convention Center is coming together. There is definitely a buzz around here—things are happening, and they are positive things." PRA's Bryant said it's important to realize sports arenas are only part of the overall economic picture in Pittsburgh.

"You can't sell the whole city on sports," he said. "That's just part of it. You have the museums and the parks and the Convention Center and a lot of other things here.

"I'm not an economist—I can't get into the rationalization of the true economic benefits of public sector investment in these kinds of facilities. The question is, what do you want out of that investment? If a development project is a profitable venture, I can tell you, it's not going to need public dollars —someone in the private sector will fund it to make money from it.

"It comes down to what value you place on the Pirates, Steelers and Penguins and can you imagine this market without those things? Maybe the economic return is not there, but can you imagine life here without them? It's a touchy issue. I will say this, though— you'll never convince me that if you have 10,000 or 20,000 people in those venues, that they aren't spending some money in this region."