If You Build It, They Will Stay: Evaluating Citizen Support for Public Financing of Sport Facilities
Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the construction of publicly financed sport facilities. The costs associated with these projects frequently necessitate voter approval through the referendum process. This project represents an examination of the politics surrounding stadium referenda. It was undertaken in an attempt to identify the influences affecting levels of public support for these stadium referenda. A theoretical model of voter support for public financing proposals was proposed and tested. That model suggests that support for stadium referenda is driven by voter perceptions in three areas of consideration: (1) economic concerns related to the cost and expected impact of the proposed facility as well as the economic context in which the referendum is placed before the voters; (2) emotional consequences associated with the outcome of the referendum; (3) the perceived level of mobilization among opponents of the project. The model was tested using a case study approach within the context of three referenda involving attempts by Major League Baseball franchises in Arlington, Texas; Seattle, Washington; and St. Paul, Minnesota to obtain public financing for the construction of new facilities. Examination of each of the cases yielded results consistent with the predictions generated by the application of the model, indicating that voter support for public financing proposals is driven by perceptions of economic and emotional consequences and by levels of mobilization among project opponents.
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign