Why Stadiums’ Life Spans Keep Shrinking

[@TheHustleChannel]

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[@davidlafleche1142]

Meanwhile, Fenway Park keeps chugging along at the ripe old age of 112.

[@princeofdarknessxyz1]

@@davidlafleche1142 hopefully fenway goes for another 100 years....beautiful ballpark ...heck I enjoy going to dodger stadium...never change it

[@davidlafleche1142]

@@princeofdarknessxyz1 100 years from now, the USA won't even exist ((Matthew 25:41, KJV).

[@Novusod]

It is often said there are two inevitable things that will always be. Death and Taxes. But there are actually 4 things. The other two is bread and circuses. The government uses sports to pacify the masses and they have been doing that since ancient Rome. That is why tax payer money if going into stadium construction.

[@philliberatore4265]

The NHL was expanding in the late 1990s. Columbus Ohio was in line to get one of the new teams. To there was a tax proposal on the ballot to fund the new arena. The cry from the people who proposed the tax was "if this does not go through then there will be no hockey in Columbus”. The vote was overwhelmingly against the new tax, like 60%, on Tuesday. The following Thursday, not 48 hours later, there was a plan to fund the arena completely with private money. Never vote for a tax for any stadium. Never!

[@maxpowr90]

On the flipside, look at the debacle of the Arizona Coyotes. See how much public money Utah is throwing at the team now.

[@adventureoflinkmk2]

Paul Brown Stadium aka Paycor Field That is all

[@tomryan914]

"Clutch pearls, I'm getting the vapours...no hockey in Columbus."

[@tomryan914]

@@maxpowr90Utah??? Houston Coyotes...All that 'JAZZ' in Utah, all those 'Lakes' in L.A.!

[@asambatyon]

If only you replaced bridges, roads and dams at that rate. It is particularly offensive using tax money for this.

[@Icarusvampire]

- Exactly

[@Joesolo13]

tbf you shouldn't need to replace any infrastructure that frequently. If you are you're building it wrong. The only types of infrastructure that should last less than 50+ years is temporary replacement bridges etc.

[@BRBNWolf]

@@asambatyon 🌹Rose Bowl🏟️ was built in 1922 and still standing 😆

[@DanielGennaro]

It’s a circus and we’re the 🤡 what a joke

[@phlodel]

Some people value silly games above all else.

[@SmilingNinja]

Corporate welfare at its finest.

[@whatisahandle221]

LA is an interesting anomaly-100% privately funded (and also fang hyper expensive). And, the St. Louis area won $700Million in a lawsuit against the Rams and the NFL, too.

[@SmilingNinja]

@swingforthefences7439 Yup! It's sad. No mayor, chair, or governor wants to be known as the person that let their beloved sports team move to a different state.

[@SmilingNinja]

@@whatisahandle221 Yeah, there are a number of multi-billion dollar soccer stadiums in Europe that are funded privately too.

[@fishmonger6879]

@swingforthefences7439Do these stadiums bring in any revenue to the cities they are in?

[@centrist1008]

And corporate greed.

[@marblox9300]

They say stadiums provide added revenue - yea, right - just like the Lotteries were going to fund schools.

[@daviejz6698]

They do supply jobs for temp agencies.

[@marblox9300]

@@daviejz6698 I guess that is worth a Billion Dollars in taxpayer money. LOL.

[@kendallevans4079]

What ever happened to that lie? Has anyone ever called out CA government for that? "60 Minutes" needs to get on it.

[@jpete3027666]

Yes and the added jobs: concession jobs and parking attendants. Not exactly world changing.

[@kendallevans4079]

What ever happened to that lie about the lotto? Why isn't anyone ever called out for bald faced lies like that?

[@dallairelj]

I saw a sporting event in France over the summer in a stadium that was built in around ‘80 and it was really great. Not 1980. 80 AD by the Romans. To say they don’t build em like they used to is an understatement.

[@madjames1134]

Romans had a mindset that things should be built once and stay forever. We have a mindset that things should last until they give us a profit, then they should be changed.

[@GooberD]

Survivorship bias

[@commodorezero]

@@madjames1134 They had special concrete that lasts forever. We just rediscovered the formula but knowing our own culture we won't be using it. We like being wasteful yayyy.

[@DrDavidThor]

ah, nice use of 80

[@jeffpiatt3879]

People in Rome did not attend events in wheelchairs.

[@stephanielaurenbounds4958]

Let the billionaire owners pay for the stadiums.

[@FadkinsDiet]

Billionaires have the political power to get officials elected who will approve spending the public funding.

[@zimfan101]

That's why you kind of have to give props to Stan Kroenke. Then again, not many people have Walmart money behind them!!

[@henrymanzano2201]

Exactly!

[@maxpiemuse9584]

Keep electing corrupt establishment career politicians who are part of the club and billionaires have no reason to use their own money.

[@torstenscholz6243]

Yup, that's the odd thing - today almost all teams in the major leagues have billionaire owners who could easily pay for these new arenas themselves, yet still they try to build them with as much taxpayers' money as possible.

[@ivannevarez8478]

That’s what exactly happened in Oakland. The owner of A’s saw that the city would benefit greatly through housing and shopping but he wanted it all for himself. So he didn’t put up the final 10% of money and asked for a hand out from Vegas. Yet still the media bashes Oakland for not acquiescing to the demands of billionaire’s.

[@johnharris6655]

The Raiders and A's tried for years to work out a deal with Oakland, the city would not cooperate.

[@theCranesUS]

SoFi was a private investment by Stan Kronke because his business model is to own the stadiums of the sports teams he owns so he gets all revenue in and out of season. This is how it should be done.

[@johnharris6655]

@@theCranesUS Oracle Park, where the San Francisco Giants play, was also privately funded, the Giants paid it off in 16 years instead of 25. Funny thing is they still had to win an election to build the park.

[@williamlloyd3769]

Oakland couldn't afford the costs associated with building a new football or baseball stadium.

[@PCSPounder]

@@johnharris6655 Because the previous deal with the Raiders put Oakland in a hole. So the teams can stick it. It’s probably a form of karma that the Raiders don’t usually outnumber away fans in Allegiant Stadium. The same will probably be true with the A’s.

[@testattestdotnet]

First they wanted taxpayer funded new stadiums. Then they wanted taxpayer funded new stadiums with luxury boxes. Now they want taxpayer funded stadium districts so they can keep making money after they've ran their sports leagues into the ground.

[@abp1400]

yeah i noticed that, too. now they don't only want a stadium, they want a whole entire block rennovated or constructed, subsidized by the city, and then they can turn around and rent it out to businesses and people in the city...loll

[@greglane3978]

Owner - If you don't pay for my new billion dollar stadium I will leave. PLEASE LEAVE !!!!!!!

[@shadeburst]

And don't slam the door on your way out!

[@JohnS-il1dr]

Thats what the San Diego Chargers did and they were a losing team. They wanted a new stadium. No superbowl wins ever. San Diego even bartered for them to stay longer by guaranteeing a certain amount of ticket sales at the taxpayers expense. Six months after that they left and a lot of us fans just flipped them the bird for taking our money.

[@brianhaflin9799]

But you also have to consider that most stadiums/arenas also employ thousands of employees and contractors that will lose their jobs if the team leaves. Having a stadium/arena with no home teams and relying solely on concerts and other events is not profitable as proven by what happened to the arena at the Meadowlands in NJ.

[@ScottCleve33]

​@@brianhaflin9799depends on the sport. For example football only hosts 8 or 9 home games a season. Even baseball only has 81 home games a year. That's far from a full time job. The benefits of a stadium on the economy is often overstated. Cities sell it on the benefits to the economy but it's really about the national exposure for the city.

[@shadeburst]

@@brianhaflin9799 Then don't build the stadium. If a job costs a hundred thou a year to create, wouldn't it be better to pay the employee to sit at home?

[@elwoodblues9613]

Meanwhile, the Rose Bowl is over 100 years old, and is still hosting UCLA games, the titular New Years Day game, and a famous flea market.

[@frankf684]

And it’s a dump.

[@aimeeinkling]

@@frankf684 But does it get the job done? Yes. It's folks like you who are looking for some kind of sports palace that fuel this problem.

[@frankf684]

@@aimeeinkling it’s a dump.

[@JohnS-il1dr]

I remember in the early 2000s when the San Diego Chargers wanted a new stadium. When they didnt get it they decided to leave our town. Its one thing to demand a stadium. Its another to demand one and not having won a superbowl in its 40 year existence and having the public pay for it. The cost back then was projected at 600 million which really meant 1 billion.

[@AKStovall]

what does a new building have to do with winning a super bowl? that's like me telling you that you can't get a new computer because you didn't top the sales charts at your job, so you don't deserve one.

[@GBA811]

Every structure build has a useful life about 90 years in mind. Demolishing them before expire 1/3 of it useful life is stupidity on another level.

[@cisium1184]

They rarely get demolished, though, unless the site is being reused. At least not right away.

[@199019852007]

@@cisium1184it becomes a white elephant like all those arenas after the Olympics

[@alanpower2857]

I wouldn't say that. In the early 90s I drew a Long Term Care facility that met the standards of the day. Now I am currently drawing it's replacement that is being built on the same Site. The owner is the same, the local County. They are not angry with us or they would have clearly hired another Architect. It makes me feel old seeing one of my buildings being torn down already. I won't be thrilled if I ever have to live in one either....

[@Ponchoed]

And a football stadium is only used 8 times a year. Talk about waste, $4 billion for a stadium used less than 250 times in its lifespan.

[@tomcibulskis7649]

Every building has a design lifespan per contract: Houses 30 years, Industrial structures 20 years, Barns 5 to 10 years. Or as specified by the owner or insurance carrier. However, if you design a building to last 100 years and maintain it properly, it can last forever. Keep water away from your foundation. Never build homes near an ocean or river. Stadiums with huge covered roofs are very difficult to design and build. They all should be open roof, that would reduce the cost significantly. Pro sports venues do not have to cost billlions. Huge roof spans make no sense. Huge spans over a river make sense. It really is that simple. I personally witnessed the lies in Chicago. I was a kid and attended the old brick stadium where the Chicago White Sox used to play. They said it's about 20 million dollars to rehabilitate the old park. They tore it down and the taxpayers got a bill for about 125 milllion. The old brick stadium was shorter, but similar to where the Cubs play. It was salvagable and beautiful.

[@Realist-m9c]

There are several stadiums in Australia that are over 100 years old. They are continually being updated but never rebuilt. The MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) holds 100,000 people, it was originally built in 1853.

[@johnliberty3647]

It’s no longer about the game, the pro sports teams are catering to status symbol fans. The fans who buy oversized trucks that have little utility but make great driveway monuments they drive to their office job.

[@cmorales932]

Spot on.

[@MelissasArt]

This is exactly what's going on. They want luxury stadia with fans paying luxury ticket prices.

[@prs44]

and that be fo pea-pickkin real

[@BookJay35]

These billionaire owners never give the tax payers in the city that they’re in discounts on tickets, food, and beverages.

[@boogitybear2283]

That’s why I like the Green Bay Packers because the fans own the team!

[@shadeburst]

Oh but the down-to-their-last-ten-million politicians who pushed the projects through did very well financially.

[@JamesGravesJr]

@@boogitybear2283 Yep. The last time the Packers wanted to update Lambeau Field, they issued more stock certificates, and the fans bought them. The *fans* paid for the stadium upgrade. Not the city or state. That's the way it should be everywhere.

[@AKStovall]

Why should they? it's literally how they fund the operation. very few sports teams are actually profitable.

[@johnthompson457]

@@AKStovallsports teams are profitable. You really think a bunch of billionaires are willingly losing money every year?

[@voradorhylden3410]

Taxpayers shouldn't pay anything for it. Imagine starting a company but the customers pay your overhead. Ridiculous!

[@notmyname998]

And after they paid for your structure then they come inside and pay the entry fee, drinks, snacks, toilets, oxygen, ...

[@user-rp8eh7gr5i]

Soilder Field does not count. It was renovated in 2002. This caused its historical landmark status to be removed.

[@timo5838]

Thank you! I keep seeing articles that Soldier Field is almost 100 years old. It is not! They completely rebuilt it in 2002. The only thing that remains from the original stadium is the columns on the outside - and those should have been removed too in my opinion because they look really dumb now.

[@Gen-X-Memories]

Aren't the Bears about to move out of the city into a suburb?

[@OscarOSullivan]

Only reason I know about that stadium is when Ireland beat New Zealand for the first time in Rugby union, not long after the death of Anthony “Axel” Foley.

[@PelicanGuy]

@@Gen-X-Memories The Bears want to, but don't know where.

[@RareGenXer]

I thought a spaceship crash landed on top of it 😉

[@michaelallen434]

Arrowhead stadium is over 50 years old and the majority of people in KC don’t want a new stadium. I hope we don’t replace it.

[@jonathantan2469]

If the Chiefs demand a new stadium, they and Taylor Swift can pay for it...

[@KCKingdomCreateGreatTrekAgain]

I’m fine with renovations to arrowhead but I agree no replacement!

[@trunkmonkey355]

Both stadiums are beautiful.

[@brandonmckinley1413]

Indianapolis is currently paying for 4 stadiums(Lucas, RCA Dome, Market Square Arena, Gainbridge Two in use and two that were torn down.

[@Sweet-mz7ol]

Chicago is still paying off the Soldier Field renovations... 2 decades later.

[@timo5838]

@@Sweet-mz7ol And they are going to tear down Soldier Field and build a new stadium. Also, the way I understand it, Indianapolis never paid a dime on the principal of the loan for the RCA Dome. They only ever paid the interest. Then they rolled the amount owed on the RCA Dome into the cost of Lucas Oil Stadium.

[@sstrange1973]

@@timo5838 It's even worse than that. Indy used the Capital Improvement Board as a credit card and charged, charged, charged while only paying interest on things like Circle Center Mall and Gainbridge. If I remember correctly, the CIB rolled about $400 million in debt into the debt used to build Lucas, which was north of a billion to build.

[@kevinkelley1644]

The rca dome was payed off 2 years ago. Market square arena was paid off at the opening in 1974. Indianapolis is only paying for 2 stadiums at the moment. With a possible 3rd stadium for the soccer team still being discussed.

[@utxex97]

Make the entitled billionaires pay entirely for their own stadiums and this insanity will stop.

[@uromvictor]

You won't have a stadium.

[@utxex97]

@@uromvictor The Red Sox, Packers, and Cubs have been doing fine with old stadiums.

[@scarpfish]

​@@uromvictor Oh well. There are other things that I can spend money on besides being a spectator for spoiled athletes.

[@jonmel]

But that would be communism America doesn’t do communism

[@Odin029]

No, the billionaires will just move their team to a city that will pony up. That's how my hometown landed the Oilers. Houston told the owner to take a hike, and he did so literally.

[@someoneelse9271]

What’s insane is football teams use their stadium for 8 games a year. Sure there might be a concert or two for the remainder but for the most part football stadiums are off limits to the public and deserted for most of the year.

[@mikebarnes2294]

Probably why for years football teams played in mostly baseball-oriented parks.

[@KingAlanI]

​@@mikebarnes2294 Though the different field shapes make for odd compromises in things like sightlines Other rectangular field sports like soccer make more sense. Lumen Field in Seattle is used for that regularly and some of the others at least occasionally

[@jackuzi8252]

I wonder what the average age of a public school building is in these cities?

[@TM_Stone]

The highschool I went to in RI is 86 years old and is still open. It's ridiculous taxpayers fund stadiums.

[@stickynorth]

Wonder why you can't get affordable housing or new public transit built? THIS IS WHY...

[@davebased5919]

The tourism pays back what they pay for these stadiums.

[@Matt-yg8ub]

Stadium cost a tiny fraction of what public transit costs and public housing is a losing prospect from day one

[@JohnS-il1dr]

Public transit is a total scam. Amway runs on 10% ridership but costs a quarter billion every year to subsidize from the taxpayers. The train runs all day basically empty.

[@lc3853]

Bots in this thread don't like public working together to solve our common problems.

[@EliteDB21]

​@@lc3853this may shock you, but not everyone who isnt a brainwashed liberal maniac is a "bot"

[@Kevinjimtheone]

Meanwhile, the best football stadium in the NFL is Lambeau field. A honest to goodness real football stadium at 67yo. And the team can never threaten to leave because it’s predominantly owned by its fans. I wish when teams were sold, the fanbase had the rights of first refusal, but there’s no way these billionaire nepo babies would ever allow for that to happen.

[@bartsullivan4866]

That is a great idea I agree with you for sure.

[@jimmyReesby]

That's your opinion.

[@antr7493]

Did the public get their money back from the Georgia dome ? FYI Soldier field is technically not there anymore. They just kept part of the exterior and built a new interior stadium .

[@BallparkHunter]

Soldier Field was used by the Bears in 1971, it was never made for an NFL team!

[@jsivco3sivco785]

Technically, the FIELD is still there, but the stadium was demolished.

[@jonmel]

While in Europe there is stadiums that are 80 years old plus

[@metaldigger]

Buddy 100 years or even 125 years is not old

[@JonSmith-hk1bq]

There are stadiums over 100 in the United States as well. Mostly college stadiums, but, of course, there's Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. Off the top of my head, none of them are in any danger of being torn down other than maybe Soldier Field.

[@cisium1184]

And also teams that are 100 years old. There is essentially no league expansion in Europe. In the USA every league is adding new teams regularly - this automatically brings the average age of stadiums down. Also, it should be noted that Europe is positively crawling with fancy new football stadiums and Olympic facilities.

[@JonSmith-hk1bq]

@@cisium1184 There are plenty of old teams in America. Half of the teams currently in Major League Baseball were founded by 1903 and eight of those teams are over 140 years old. Hockey and football both have teams that were founded over a hundred years ago. And outside of hockey, there hasn't been an expansion team in any of the major sports in the past 20 years. Unless you're talking about soccer. In which case, the league itself isn't even 30 years old yet because the previous soccer leagues in the United States went out of business.

[@OscarOSullivan]

Laughs in Italian rugby being brought into the tier 1 fold including Treviso. At the time of its demolition in 2007 the old Landsdowne Road was the oldest test rugby union ground in the world dating back to 1872 that is a 135 years of history with the oldest Rugby union club in Ireland right beside the stadium Wanderers RFC dating back to the early 1870’s.

[@riccorich]

Turner field wasnt a Terrible Location its next to downtown Atlanta.. compared to Cobb County 30 min North

[@ohmynester]

The surrounding area is not ideal

[@Vyse1984]

The problem was that the location couldn’t be developed. With Cobb County, the Braves could develop an entertainment/business district around Truist Park. And they did with The Battery.

[@riccorich]

@@Vyse1984 wrong

[@Vyse1984]

@@riccorich But it took Georgia State to do it.

[@riccorich]

@@Vyse1984 GSU bought the stadium after thr Braves left, the Braves Owners just didn't want to stay in town.. with the slap in the face Cobb deal, disrespecting thr city of Atlanta and Black people

[@metaldigger]

As a Liverpool fc supporter, I’m glad we renovated Anfield. Home since 1892 and built in 1884. Home it is, it will always be!

[@OscarOSullivan]

Landsdowne road from 1872 until 2007 was the oldest test rugby and association stadium in the world.

[@Dooguk]

Anfield was the home of Everton FC from 1884 to 1892. In 1884 it was just a field, so using the world "built" is exaggerating. Goodison Park, which Everton moved to in 1892, was the first purpose built football stadium in the world. UTFT.

[@theupson]

"in europe ten miles is a long way, and in america ten years is a long time" inflation donchaknow

[@henrymanzano2201]

@metaldigger YNWA!

[@McCallHall1]

I’ve been saying this… Great data and entertainment value. Kudos.

[@44song]

If the cost of renovation is not a lot cheaper compare to building a new one. The approach is different between Europe and America. America: We might as well just get a new stadium. More revenue streams are available in the new site. Europe: We choose to renovate as our existing stadium is historical and legendary. Way too iconic to abandon it. We love to keep our heritage which can pass down from generations to generations. (i.e. treating the stadium like holy cathedral)

[@kendallevans4079]

Agree...That's why as an Angel fan I am proud we've fooled around with the Angels Stadium configuration rather than a complete tear-down. The Rams moved in, we enclosed it and ramped up capacity. They moved out, and Disney opened the stadium back up and did lot's of other improvements. It's a perfectly fine and usable structure, maybe not the trendiest in that they put them all downtown these days and it's still in the suburbs, but so what? That doesn't have any effect of the game.

[@RySenkari]

They've got promotion and relegation in Europe. Teams can't threaten to move because if your team does move, you can just root for another team in your area to get promoted.

[@frankf684]

@@RySenkarioh yes the holy cure all of pro/rel.

[@ScottCleve33]

I think it's important to note that in Europe most stadiums were built with the same configuration designed for soccer. In the US many stadiums were built to host football and baseball. Many of those stadiums were replaced because the seating and configuration doesn't work well together. Today most cities have different venues for each sport. Thus this is why US stadiums are rarely historical.

[@johnthompson457]

⁠​⁠@@RySenkaripeople don’t change their team in Europe. It’s basically assigned to you at birth by a parent and it’s stuck for life.

[@fernandoalvarez9613]

Why so much public money?

[@stickynorth]

Because they can...

[@mae2759]

You don't want to be the mayor or local politician that causes a beloved sports team to leave because you wouldn't help fund the stadium.

[@sheldoncedwardthibault3599]

The Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL played 80 years in the same facility before moving into a new place about 6 or 7 years ago. This replacing stadiums every 22-24 years is ridiculous when there is nothing wrong with the facility itself. Look at Fenway and Wrigley, they are testament to time and well the facility themselves have held up. Even Lambeau in Green Bay, Wisconsin which has been going on for probably over 6 decades now and still going strong. Make use of a facility for many, many decades because do we tear down an iconic court house because we don't like it anymore. C'mon, we make due with what we got and team owners should realize that.

[@zulerodoeht329]

Here in San Antonio, we have the Alamodome which is now 31 years old. The Alamodome was built without either a NFL or MLB team in the city, hoping to lure a NFL team ( that was never going to happen). After it was finished the local minor league baseball team couldn't even play in it, as it was not built for baseball, even though it was sold as a multi-use stadium.This stadium now hosts Arena football, high school football, tractor pulls, concerts, Home and Garden shows, etc.. The City of SA who runs the day to day operations of the Alamodome, now says that the dome needs serious upgrades for the cost of a few hundred million dollars. AND now the CITY and COUNTY leaders are going to build yet another baseball stadium in the crowded / congested downtown area. What a waste of tax payers money.

[@franksmith4730]

I bet SA did quite well over the 30 years on that stadium. While I agree that professional teams should finance their own stadiums, if you are in a city of size without such facilities, you need to build them yourself for the sake of having the venue just so your citizens can use it to see other things there. Cities do those things all the time. I bet San Antonio has an exhibition hall that has 10's of thousands of square feet of exhibition space. Do you think that was free? Nope, cost just as much as one of these stadiums, but it isn't flashy so people like you probably don't even know it exists. If your city wants to get cool things, like NCAA finals and such (not even professional sport things) then you are competing against pro facilities and must have them yourself to ever hope of getting them. Or, you could just rely on a pretend river most people think is smelly to be your *main* attraction.

[@matty7106]

Chase Center in SF, built by Golden State Warriors, also took $0 in public money. Like Sofi, it’s now the premiere event center in SF. Nice to see some organizations have their act together and are not just fleecing the public.

[@maxpiemuse9584]

Even in that case, they still enjoy all kinds of tax breaks and benefits at the taxpayers expense that you or I would never get if we opened a business there.

[@BOABModels]

This is ridiculous - the carbon footprint of construction is huge and these stadiums just aren't needed. In the UK, a stadium built in the '90s is still considered 'new' now. We have many which are over 100 years old but have been modernised over the years, especially after the Taylor report following the Hillsborough disaster.

[@Nicksonian]

I attended the first game in 1992, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It was a beautiful facility then as it is now. At 32-years old, it is old by modern standards. The first of the “retro” baseball stadiums, I hope it sticks around as one of those iconic stadiums that lasts for decades and not just years.

[@klardfarkus3891]

Sports? Give the masses bread and circus to keep,them compliant.

[@danw2112]

Now we can't afford the bread, or go to the circus. LOL LOL 😂😅😂🤣🤣🤣😆😅😂😂🤣🤣

[@EmmanuelConstant747]

The trouble with most NFL stadium owners is the fact that they are all trying to out do one another by building higher luxury venues at the cost of tax payers money. MetLife Stadium owners played it smart by limiting the luxury and upgrading the fan comfort necessities without tax dollars. The result - MetLife leads the league in crowd attendance. Stadium Owners that invest in maximum fan comfort over luxury can get that kind of advantage. The Giants & Jets are getting the full crowd attendance, The Rams & Chargers are getting low crowd attendance at SOFI Stadium. Luxury is the Curse, Fan Comfort Necessity is the real blessing. This is why MetLife Stadium will out last the competition.

[@rallypoint1]

Would love to see my Rams at SoFi…but it’s too expensive. $100 for regular parking. Want tailgate parking..up to $300. Plus factor seats, concessions, merchandise….unreal.

[@Drizno]

hmmm but whos more profitable though, luxury suites make more money than regular seating. it doesnt matter whether or not attendances or low

[@UserName-ts3sp]

Metlife is honestly the worst stadium I've been to

[@EmmanuelConstant747]

@@UserName-ts3sp Try going to a game in FedEx Field. After That - Check out AT&T Stadium with all of its traffic, Parking, limited Public Transportation problems, Long lines to the Restrooms and Concession stands. Those problems are just as bad if not worse in other stadiums like SOFI, Allegiant, and US Bank Stadium. This is what happens when team owners spend more money on luxury rather than Fan Comfort necessity.

[@EmmanuelConstant747]

@@UserName-ts3sp Have you ever been to FedEx Field ?

[@necroslair]

Next up: Jacksonville who play one home game a year in London and approaching $2B for the stadium they want…

[@joevignolor4u949]

About twenty years ago the current Red Sox ownership was talking about replacing Fenway Park. It created such a public uproar that the plans were scrapped. Instead, many alterations and improvements were made to the old ballpark. While many of the legacy problems stemming from its original design and construction remain, it's still a great place to watch baseball. I've been going there for over sixty years and it's nice to have the historic old ballpark still around.

[@bjornh4664]

I've only been to Fenway once. My wife is from the US and lived in Boston for 16 years, and as a Sox fan wanted to show me a genuine piece of the city. Even with my limited experience of Boston, the Sox and Fenway, I can't see the Park replaced. For a US city, Boston is steeped in history, and Fenway is part of the city's heart and soul.

[@jeffpiatt3879]

What is being left out here is that modern building and accessibility (Americans With Disabilities Act) codes have created a maximum 30 year life cycle for most structures other than single family homes. Every three years the building codes add more codes to comply with and every 10 years the ADA is re-written to require more space for compliance. Renovating buildings often costs more than building a new building due to the fact that new building codes conflit with each other when trying to renovate and local code authorites are unwilling to bend to facilitate any changes.

[@hotpuppy1]

Make the TEAMS pay for it. WHY should the public build them for a PRIVATE enterprise.

[@Sweet68Camaro]

Why the heck does the proposed A’s stadium cost 1.5B???? It’s a freaking baseball stadium!!!

[@jpete3027666]

Yep and it’s only proposed to be something like 30,000 seats too. It doesn’t add up.

[@SurfCityBill]

Video poker machine at every seat

[@edwil111]

Domed. And Air conditioning.

[@Matt-yg8ub]

When government gets involved in anything, the price doubles, if not triples. 30,000 seats but remember 10,000 need to be ADA accessible and the pitch on the Pedestrian ramps needs to be just right ADA again… and then they have to have bathroom facilities for 30,000 women and 10,000 men … in a 30,000 person stadium. The steel has to be entirely recycled. The whole thing has to be powered by solar panels and wind energy. The grass needs to be biodegradable. The parking lot has to be paved with a special reflective coating that keeps global warming at bay and there needs to be a 10 year $100 million surveys and studies to confirm that the new stadium won’t make any noise or potentially disrupt bird migration.

[@ScottCleve33]

Because stadiums, especially baseball stadiums, often have other forms of entertainment like pools or fountains. Baseball is a dying sport and baseball teams are desperately looking for additional reasons for fans to go to a game other than just for the game.

[@davidnabbit]

And yet public funding for housing and food is somehow outrageous.

[@HoshizakiYoshimasa]

Wasn't public housing a failure for the Americans in the 1960s and 1970s? And why most people wanted suburbs and home and land ownership instead? How about affordable OWNABLE housing instead of making people rental serfs in badly maintained communist style apartments?

[@tadroid3858]

I moved out of Hamilton County, OH because I was tired of paying for stadiums for the Bengals and Reds. I can't afford to attend either venue, so why should I help pay for it? It's entertainment for the entire region that one county pays for.

[@joet7136]

Public funding of any kind either directly or via tax breaks should absolutely be illegal for private interests like professional sports stadiums.

[@johnharris6655]

With the Raiders moving to Vegas, every MLB and NFL teams has their own stadium. MLB teams want smaller venues because they have 82 home games for ticket sales while NFL teams want bigger stadiums because they only have 8 or 9 home games. Baseball and football fans want different experiences.

[@johnharris6655]

@@dericklewis4075 But they do not share it with a baseball team so you do not see an infield in September and October.

[@williamhaynes7089]

so what if there are empty seats.. maybe lower the prices and get more people to come.

[@cisium1184]

Also, cities tried shared stadiums. They ended up with lots of bad seats that people wouldn't pay for, because the seating bowls for different sports are vastly different.

[@ScottCleve33]

Baseball is also a dying sport. They can't fill the stadiums any longer. Even the smaller ones. They're reducing seating in some stadiums so that they don't look as empty.

[@Lucky_9705]

the fact that these greedy owners make taxpayers pay for their stadiums is disgusting

[@randywarren7101]

Well, you can't say that about Lambeau Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers! It has had numerous renovations to increase seating and improve audience amenities! It is the oldest football stadium in the NFL and is older than I am!

[@eddiejc1]

It is the oldest facility in the NFL specifically built to host an NFL team, but it isn't the oldest NFL stadium. The Packers will finally have that title outright when the Bears move out of Soldier Field.

[@generalzod7959]

Green bay is special in that they will never have to worry about an owner threatening to leave as rhe team is owned by the city.

[@waynesonneman7343]

Some of these stadiums do look nice, but I will take Lambeau field over them any day

[@Schneids71]

@@eddiejc1The real Soldier Field, as in where Walter Payton played, really doesn’t exist anymore. Lambeau is the oldest NFL stadium.

[@Andrew-v1b4o]

Lincoln Financial Field is 20 years old and still feels new

[@arturoalvarado4030]

Props to the folks in Oakland for not bowing down to billionaires.

[@condog209]

How's that working out for them ?

[@MrModamanReviews]

Public financing for private use is disgusting and should become illegal. If teams want new stadiums, they can build them themselves.

[@Josh_Fredman]

I miss the days of SimCity, when the public in a growing young city would demand a stadium almost like clockwork, and I as mayor in my infinite benevolence would arbitrarily build it overnight from city revenues, and there it would remain forever, and the people would never ask for a stadium again.

[@donmc1950]

Montreal's 1976 Olympic stadium cost almost 1 billion dollars and took over 30 years of Montreal tax payer money to pay off. It is affectionately known as the "Big Owe". It is hard for cities to justify this expense, given the need for affordable housing.

[@mikebarnes2294]

and in the end couldn't keep the Expos and MLB moved them to Washington D.C. to become the Nationals.

[@damham5689]

They replace stadiums faster than they fix and upgrade roads.

[@Joepacker]

Well I don't have to worry about the Packers moving or replacing Lambeau field. As an owner I am perfectly happy with our OLD stadium with all it's history intact.

[@rogerlevasseur397]

Fenway Park... so nice that it's still around. It along with those other very old stadiums, sure must be skewing the averages of those other newer stadiums.

[@shitpost-69]

For a relatively small channel, this was spectacularly produced.

[@Paul_Wetor]

They tore down a late 1980s basketball arena in Milwaukee to put up a new one. The inner pillars looked like new concrete - light gray. Ironically, the 1950s Arena (where the Bucks first played) still stands.

[@ivannevarez8478]

The old arena is probably better built

[@grantorino2325]

Did they turn it into an Evangelical Christian auditorium?

[@Paul_Wetor]

@@grantorino2325 No, it's a sports facility for indoor soccer, hockey, and college basketball.

[@torstenscholz6243]

Same with the old NBA arenas in Miami and Orlando. They were also torn down, despite only being a little over 20 years old. What a sad waste of (taxpayers'!) money and building material.

[@carlrood4457]

One thing to note is the stadiums built in the 60's and 70's were often multipurpose. They were home to both local football and baseball teams. The boom in the 90's was done to separate that, so you had more money spent for less usage.

[@Onir500]

Further evidence that public institutions have been thoroughly captured by corporate interests...

[@shadeburst]

You mean, politically connected corporate interests. How many $$$ in corruption?

[@zeruty]

All stadiums should be torn down and not replaced

[@zacherymayer4847]

Arrowhead has been around since the '70s and they are now discussing a new stadium. Insane.

[@ronkali5365]

The Atlanta Falcons have had 3 stadiums since Arrowhead

[@BallparkHunter]

Amazingly, Kansas City had the thought of creating a baseball and football stadium in 1973.

[@XCambodianBuddha]

The Pontiac silverdome only last 25 years before it was abandoned and torn down a decade later. Pontiac taxpayers are still paying for it even thought it cost 50 million to build in 1976. (350 million in todays dollars)

[@edwarddeatley1117]

I love sports, but we should be spending money on roads, housing and public transportation. Nothing 04 sports.

[@robdavies8702]

When you think most UK football stadiums, although modernised, are 100+ years old.

[@wandatrades4809]

Rams are the landlords, Chargers are tenants

[@vivalamop]

Being from the UK, the idea of a team moving to another city is alien to me! The big football (soccer) teams are building crazy stadiums but that’s maybe the top 10 teams, other than that, they are in 60+ year old stadiums here.

[@johnthompson457]

Milton Keynes dons are one of the exceptions to both of those.

[@BawkBawkBawk666]

BC Place is still standing since 1983, mind you it has a new roof

[@Bob_Betty]

This is nuts! Billionaire owners and they get the taxpayer to fund new stadiums! Coming from England this seems outrageous. Support your local College instead, let them leave.

[@guywithinterwebs]

Honestly, these teams shouldn't be privately owned. They should be owned by the city and profits go to the city. The Green Pay Packers is the only publicly owned team in the United States and is why they will never leave Green Bay and their Stadiums have longevity and a soul and named after coaches instead of corporations.

[@HoshizakiYoshimasa]

Actually, they nearly relocated in the 80s to Milwaukee. And NFL can always revoke Green Bay's NFL membership. A sports league can always kick a team out of the league. Them being owned by the public is meaningless.

[@guywithinterwebs]

@@HoshizakiYoshimasa it's not meaningless. If the team is taking public money, it's profits should also be public.

[@PCSPounder]

It’s easy to beg owners not to beg taxpayers for money. The private money was spent on SoFi because Los Angeles. The leagues demand public money from smaller markets because they can.

[@TheKingkenry]

SoFi isn’t in Los Angeles, it’s in Inglewood. Inglewood is banking on the raise in property value so they can get it back in taxes. Inglewood has some of the highest property and hotel taxes.

[@PCSPounder]

@@TheKingkenry How many people say they’re from Inglewood? Or is the fact that SoFi is in Inglewood the reason that Rams and Chargers fans barely outnumber away fans for games? Neither were my point, but I will have my fun. SoFi serves the second largest American market. That means, instead of wishing the stadium is always full to give an owner a cash advantage, an owner can build privately because one can make up the difference with media rights as well as the total number of dates the facility will be in demand. New York and Los Angeles don’t NEED to build with public funds, not that New York teams don’t find themselves getting certain tax advantages.

[@johnriley7312]

Compare this football (soccer) stadiums in the UK like Everton's Goodison Park which was first built in 1892 and will close in 2025, that's 133 years of history

[@miniondave6314]

Last I heard, Chicago hasn't finished paying off the last renovations to Soldier Field and the team has been talking about a new stadium (which included moving to the suburbs). I also vote against public funding for stadiums.

[@BigBlueMan118]

I think one Problem you guys in the US are going to have to face is the lack of high-capacity effective Mass Transit to your stadiums, in Australia and Germany (the two countries i have lived in) almost all sports grounds have decent Public Transport options and can move a lot of people quickly as they were planned around this. Whereas US stadiums by and large are not located strategically on existing or planned high-quality transit corridors.

[@frankf684]

Well we have a lot more cars than those countries.

[@BigBlueMan118]

@@frankf684 The US doesnt have thaaaat much higher rates of Car ownership than Australia or Canada, less than NZ is only about 20% higher than Germany or UK.

[@BallparkHunter]

Great video! I would also add that Wave 2 included expansion in all four major league sports, especially the rise of multi-purpose football/baseball stadiums to either lure or keep an AFL/NFL or MLB team. Jack Murphy Stadium was built to gain an expansion baseball team, but also keep the Charges from moving to Anaheim. Oakland had an AFL team but also wanted to lure Charles Finley's A's from Kansas City, and Cincinnati built a multi-purpose stadium for the expansion Bengals football team and to give the Reds a new stadium along the riverfront.

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

What a waste!

[@superturtle61177]

So just like with colleges, when government money gets involved the prices go up.

[@dantesinfernopurgatory7826]

1) Because they can AND 2) Because they know people will pay to attend the games.

[@XCambodianBuddha]

The Pontiac Silverdome was built in 1976 for 50 million. It held 80,000 people and was the first domed roof stadium. It was abandoned in 2001

[@Schneids71]

The Astrodome was the first dome.

[@XCambodianBuddha]

@@Schneids71 But the 80,000 seat Silverdome was at that time, the 7th wonder of the world. Such a large stadium cover with inflatable nylon dome.

[@BitcoinMotorist]

SoFi WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. The owner of SoFi wanted to fund the stadium privately and REFUSED public money that was thrown at him. What was the result? A lawsuit and a huge fine. Don't expect any billionaires to make that mistake again.

[@whaduzitmatr]

why was he sued/fined for wanting to use his own money?

[@BitcoinMotorist]

@whaduzitmatr Because public funds come with strings attached. Kroenke didn't want those strings, so they made him pay big time

[@ronaldkonkoma4356]

Icons like Wrigley and Fenway with Dodger Stadium as 3rd oldest. Crazy

[@joevignolor4u949]

And there was a big gap between them. Fenway Park opened in 1912 and Wrigley Field in 1914. Then 48 years later Dodger Stadium opened in 1962.

[@ronaldkonkoma4356]

@joevignolor4u949 Dodger seems "modern" to me so on the one hand it's like how can it be 3rd oldest and on the other I'm thinking how has it lasted this long? Either way, I hope they are able to keep it going considering it's place in the league and the impact they had leaving Brooklyn to open up the west coast.

[@amazingeric97]

I look at Wrigley Field & Fenway Park. Both baseball stadiums are around 100 years old. A lot of sports teams are owned by billionaire owners. New stadiums equal more money to be made. I do believe that multiple purpose stadiums need to be looked at especially in Chicago. With modern building it is possible the Bears & White Sox could share a new stadium. With the Cubs being much more popular than the White Sox Inhave a feeling that someday the White Sox might be in another city in the future.

[@Sam89365]

I think all stadiums should have two locations right next to each other. Play in 1 for 5 years while the other is being built, move to the new one, tear the old one down and start building a new one on that spot, once completed move to that one and tear the other one down. Rinse and repeat and always stay up to date.

[@mikebarnes2294]

fully paid for by the team with NO expense to the taxpayer

[@sanderdeboer6034]

The US@ just doesn’t care about the environment, global warming, public funds, history or the welfare of its citizens. Here in Amsterdam we RENOVATED the old Olympic stadium of 1928 in stead of demolishing it. Creating a beautiful sporting environment with historic significance.

[@DeltaAssaultGaming]

And that is why no one will remember your name.

[@frankf684]

And the Netherlands is 237 times smaller than the US,the US has a larger GDP,The US has 350 million people compared to your countries 18 million.Cant compare the two.Also I’ve never lived in your country so I wouldn’t throw ignorant generalizations around about a place your not a part of

[@sanderdeboer6034]

@@frankf684 Why would the size of a country matter in this case? And GDP isn’t really relevant as well, because my arguments apply to environmental impacts, history, (mis) use of public funds and keeping history alive. Plus adding the insanity of throwing away billions of public money to rebuild huge buildings that are around 30 years old. And I am part of the US society in many ways! Not just because I have family in Ohio, Michigan, New York and California. But also because US culture is part of my daily life. I watch many US tv shows, listen to many music from the USA, follow American comedians and US politics is followed very closely here. Plus we are the oldest ally of the USA, supporting the fight against Britain with finance an military aid. Also our declaration of independence from Spain was the blueprint for your Declaration of Independence. I have many colleagues from the USA, and have visited 8 states so far. (Plus Canada) And the fact Americans are so wasteful influences climate change which impacts the Netherlands greatly. Almost half of our country lies below sea level, so we feel the effects first. Luckily we have great engineers who also helped New Orleans after Katrina and several other cities including New York. Just because I don’t live in the USA, doesn’t mean I don’t know much about it, and don’t have a stake in it.

[@sanderdeboer6034]

@@DeltaAssaultGaming Nobody remembers my name, SO? Why is that relevant especially with this topic?

[@darthwiizius]

@@sanderdeboer6034 Sometimes you can't renovate. The old Wembley stadium couldn't be renovated, partly because it was built at the limit of what was possible at the time. It was never expected to be in use anywhere near as long as it was. Hopefully the current one was built with longevity and renewal accounted for in the design, we're not big on short lifespan constructions. Most sports fans wouldn't accept changing venues every couple of decades in Europe anyway, we don't have franchises we have local clubs and teams with fixed connections to historic communities.

[@mikethespike7579]

When we build stadiums and arenas here in Europe they are meant to last a very, very long time. Some of our oldest are a couple of thousand years old, built by the Romans and still standing. Same goes for our theatres, we built our first ones about 3 thousand years ago and they're still going strong.

[@Becauseimme]

SoFi Stadium will be around for a very long time because LA doesn’t destroy their stadiums.

[@coreylevine8095]

Because they National Landmark

[@JonSmith-hk1bq]

@@coreylevine8095 Naw. Even The Forum is still standing. Not exactly a national monument. Ballmer had to drop $400 million on it a few years ago so he could build the new Clippers arena.

[@FranciscoRodriguez-ly9so]

Only stadium that I know of to be destroyed in L.A. recently was the sports Arena in 2016. Even the former home of the Raiders, lakers/kings and Rams still stand.

[@torstenscholz6243]

@@JonSmith-hk1bq The Forum is still a popular concert location, that's why it's still in use.

[@JonSmith-hk1bq]

@@torstenscholz6243 It's not $400 million popular!

[@texasscifi3431]

Atlanta is POOR downtown with lots of homeless. 1 billion to the NFL.

[@cqholt]

Turner Field was not in a terrible location. The issue was it was surrounded by parking lots, which now since the Braves left for an even worse location, is now seeing development.

[@scottdobson1276]

One factor you overlooked is that LA didn't get their team back, until 90% of the teams in the NFL got new buildings or major renovations. The owners didn't want a team in LA because it could be used as a threat to move other franchises. People in socal were still watching on TV which is their main revenue source anyway.

[@Adam-yf3ss]

Is it weird that the title is NFL stadiums but the thumbnail is baseball stadiums?

[@PCSPounder]

That looked like an old multi-purpose stadium. Plus some videos are hard to come by.

[@rawlvee]

she stated in the video that all 4 major sports been having the same circumstances

[@loganleroy8622]

@@rawlvee The same thing is happening in the MLS, heck even the NWSL build the world's first women's soccer specific stadium in Kansas City.

[@Miguel195211]

Who’s at fault for public money being used? The gullible taxpayers who vote yes on this insanity.

[@johnharris6655]

The Georgia Dome and Turner Field were built for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. The Georgia Dome was part of the Georgia World Congress center which was a very large convention area in Downtown Atlanta. The Olympic Stadium was turned into Turner field and is now Center Parc Stadium, home of the Georgia State Panthers. The Braves moved out of Atlanta because it was not safe to go to Braves games and most of their season ticket holders came from Cobb County.

[@RashaadJorden]

Turner Field was built for the Olympics, but not the Georgia Dome. Ground was broken on the Georgia Dome several months before Atlanta was awarded (in an upset) the 1996 Olympics.

[@johnharris6655]

@@RashaadJordenThe Georgia Dome was part of that Olympic bid.

[@Nicho_Ldn]

This is a uniquely American problem. Football clubs in Europe like to have stadiums with memories and heritage to them.

[@frankf684]

Like man city?Arsenal?brentford?everton?brighton?south Hampton?tottenham?west ham?milan and inter are getting new stadiums too

[@Nicho_Ldn]

@@frankf684 The quite obvious difference is the age of the stadia that were being replaced. And their intended lifespan. The Emirates Stadium is already coming up on 20 years old, if it were home to an NFL team there would already be rumblings about a replacement.

[@scarpfish]

Cities that have told pro sports owners to F off will be better off for doing so. If people didn't have sports to watch, they'd find other ways to spend their entertainment dollars.

[@TheLiamster]

Stadiums should be built with at least a 50 year lifespan

[@tallthinkev]

Meanwhile Lords new ground was built in 1814 so is now 210 years old

[@CarsTechWood]

And tickets cost 3x what they did 5 years ago

[@edwardbianchi192]

Meanwhile a nuclear plant in NY that was designed to last 40 years is still running way over predicted life span!

[@codystrader7594]

Welcome to America, where actual problems get pushed aside so we can deal with imaginary ones.

[@TheAtkey]

Because people are afraid of living near a nuclear power plant so the political will to build a new nuclear plant(which would be far safer) isn't there. People do love their sports teams however. I'm becoming less and less of a sports fan, pro teams(at least most of used to be part of the community the owner was often a local businessman multi millinares sure but still tied to the city but now it's some billionaire with little or no ties to the city. I just feel I'm not rooting for a team or city anymore but a multi billionaire's toy.

[@MichaelfromtheGraves]

It was not designed to last 40 years. Their initial license with the NRC was 40 years. Extending a nuclear plant's license by 20 years is a 15 year process. Almost every plant in the country is currently getting relicensed. It's hilarious you think this is something we approach lightly in this country.

[@michaelbruner3511]

The two oldest stadiums I've ever been to are Wrigley field & the late Texas stadium. I lived in Arlington TX 15 yrs ago. The property taxes were insane because they were paying for the new then-cowboy stadium. Every house we looked at had a property tax no lower than $4,500.

[@donjackson5522]

I agree. These billionaires should totally fund their "keeping up with the Joneses" stadium toys. While they are at it, in the case of SoFi, now they have caused real estate nightmares in San Diego and St. Louis, as they have to find a use for their now tenantless stadiums. There should be some repercussions for that.

[@jasonkoch3182]

There were massive repercussions on the NFL for leaving St. Louis. Stan Kroenke and the NFL had to pay the city $790 million. And, the old Rams stadium now houses the most popular XFL team, the Battlehawks.

[@uctfandre]

San Diego State University Bought the land where the old Qualcomm Stadium stood and redeveloped area with a new stadium.

[@mrbane8721]

It's literally the local politicians that provided taxpayer funds. Don't forget who the real problem is.

[@UserName-ts3sp]

There was a ridiculous clause in the Rams contract with the Edward Jones Dome where they could easily get out of it if it wasn't in the top 25% of NFL stadiums. The Bengals and Paul Brown Stadium (another lopsided deal) also had a similar clause, though they decided to pilfer Cincinnati instead