Podcast: Evolution of Sports Stadiums in the US

Location Cubed

Key Points: 

• Old-school sports stadiums were typically built in city neighborhoods.
• Mega stadiums situated in the middle of asphalt jungles grew in popularity when parking was at a premium.
• Today’s stadiums are being reimagined as destination experiences.

In this episode of Weaver: Beyond the Numbers, hosts Rob Nowak, Tax Partner at Weaver, and Howard Altshuler, Partner-in-Charge of Real Estate Services at Weaver, took time to reflect on the evolution of sports stadiums in the United States.

Altshuler recalled how his visit to a sports stadium to watch the Dallas Stars, got him “thinking about stadiums and how [their qualities and features] have changed over the years.” He opined that the locations of new stadiums and how they fit in neighborhoods is almost bringing back stadium construction “full circle from where we were before.”

Nowak and Altshuler discussed several beloved neighborhood stadiums in the U.S.: Chicago’s historic Wrigley Field, as well as Boston’s legendary Fenway Park and then compared those to the more modern Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex stadiums in Arlington.

Part of older stadiums’ appeal stems from the need for them to fit into the neighborhoods where they are located – not only aesthetically but from a functional standpoint as well. In other words, neighborhood stadiums had to be built on spaces that already existed.

As time went on, smaller stadiums gave way to mega stadiums built with the suburban commuter in mind. However, those stadiums required a great deal of infrastructure but had little other use, such as a football stadium used for 10 games a year.

What will future stadiums look like? Tune in to learn what Nowak and Altshuler think as they reflect on the evolution of stadiums.

Subscribe to the Beyond the Numbers podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for the next episode of this series.

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