The new Washington, D.C., baseball stadium, which is said to buck a recent trend toward “retro” ballparks, may well garner excitement for years to come. It is likely also to remain the architectural design of choice for some time. But this idea in stadium design is by no means the new frontier of sports that many will claim it to be. This new frontier will be defined not by stadium design but by organizational design.
We all must recognize and engage in new approaches, which means knowing how and when changes occur. Much of the sports industry has raced to manage and organize “the experience.” This is the concept, outlined in Pine and Gilmore’s “The Experience Economy,” that technology and the increasing expectations of consumers have driven the businesses of our society to “design memorable events for which they charge admission.” That is, society has evolved from the raw materials economy of the late 19th century to the goods economy of the 1950s to the service economy of the 1970s to the experience economy of the early 21st century. We can apply this model to the evolution of ballpark design.
In Philadelphia, for example:
Baker Bowl was built in 1890; it cost $101,000 to build and accommodated 20,000 fans in what was little more than a baseball field surrounded by seating and brick façade. Fans came to the ballpark for the game and left when it ended.
Shibe Park was built in 1950; it cost $300,000 to build and held 33,000 fans. Fans came to the ballpark for the game and left when it ended, but they were also inundated with signage and advertisements on and near the field of play.
Veterans Stadium was built in 1970; it cost $52 million to build and held 62,000 fans. Fans came to the ballpark for the game and left when it ended, but this multipurpose, “cookie-cutter” stadium was designed to seat and serve an optimal number of fans for either baseball or football games.
Citizens Bank Park was built in 2004; it cost $346 million to build and holds 43,000 fans. Fans come to the ballpark for the game, but the game is only part of “the experience.” They can arrive early and stay long after the game has ended because entertainment and restaurant areas inside and surrounding the ballpark provide a full-fledged “experience.”
Stadium design has had such an impact on sports that columnist George F. Will has written that “Jackie Robinson, free agency, and Camden Yards” are the three greatest developments in baseball since World War II.
Camden Yards, built for the Baltimore Orioles in 1992, initiated the trend of building baseball-only facilities with an old-fashioned charm and smaller seating capacities. It was an innovative approach encouraged by Larry Lucchino, then president of the Orioles; it was so innovative, in fact, that at least one-half of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams have since built new stadiums, each with the old-style look and feel.
But the old style is now old news.
The latest news — the innovative approach of the present — has, interestingly, also been encouraged by Lucchino, now president and CEO of the Boston Red Sox and architect of their first championship in 86 years.
What is this innovation? Simply put: Theo Epstein.
The idea of developing twenty- and thirty-something-year-old talent in the front office is the order of the day — it is the new model of the new trend.
Numerous teams, especially those of the “Moneyball” ilk, have since made this a prevailing practice. Perhaps Epstein himself, in discussing player development, said it best: “Our goal for … development and scouting is to develop a constant flow of impact talent through our … system.”
This tells us that the new frontier of sports — where tomorrow’s developments are being shaped today — is not in the development of stadiums. Rather, it is in the development of people.
Lee Igel is a visiting assistant professor of sports management at New York University’s Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management.
