Central Place Theory, the Spatial Dynamics of Professional Sports Teams Relocation and Expansion, and the Public Financing of Stadium Construction
Abstract
The increasingly profitable North American professional sports industry drives individual
leagues, like the NBA, NFL and NHL, to continue exploration into either league expansion or
franchise relocation. This paper examines what determines viable candidates for league
expansion and franchise relocation. We apply Central Place Theory (CPT) to display how a
rational economic landscape, based purely on population threshold and market size, would place
new teams or relocate current ones geographically. However, the presence of human phenomena
and auxiliary variables renders a purely rational economic landscape inadequate. We conduct an
interview with Dr. Sean Dinces, an expert in political economy and urban history. Through our
applications of CPT we determine numerous franchise candidates. Despite having an adequate
population and an underserved location, the potential cities are not in talks to acquire an
additional professional sports team. Our interview with Sean Dinces assists our process of
identifying the outlying variables that are prohibiting these suitable cities from franchise
acquisition. We conclude that the sports landscape does not resemble a rational economic world
and identify the government's willingness to publicly subsidize stadiums as one of the primary
factors affecting franchise relocation and league expansion.
Subject
Financing
Construction
Stadium
Sports
Central Place Theory
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http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/75009Description
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