"Taking a cue from amusement parks, the newest stadiums
in pro sports are touting all sorts of distractions --
allowing people to spend extra cash without ever having to
watch the game," according to Sam Walker of the WALL STREET
JOURNAL. Team owners say that "the added attractions will
lure new groups to the stadiums and prompt them to spend all
day." Braves President Stan Kasten: "I want teens, women
and senior citizens, and I want them to stay longer. If
there's nothing here for them but baseball, I lose."
Tropicana Field, home of the expansion Devil Rays, will
offer an area behind the center-field grandstands that
features a hair salon, a brew pub, a climbing wall for kids
and showroom space for car dealerships. Walker writes,
though, that "what troubles some people ... about these
stadiums of the future centers on a fundamental issue: The
excitement these places generate has less and less to do
with sports." Rick Burton, Dir of the Warsaw Sports
Marketing Center at the Univ. of OR, said that expensive new
facilities "may backfire on teams that fail to produce a
winner." Walker concludes that it's "too early to judge the
success of most of these flashy new digs, but there are some
indicators." For example, four of the five MLB teams with
the highest payroll "all moved into new stadiums within the
past six years" (Sam Walker, WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/27).
