Navigating the Development of Sporting Facilities

Waldman: “Dealing with an arena rather than a stadium gives you many more advantages because of the use of the facility.”

Part 1 of 2

IRVINE, CA—Contrary to what the movie “Field of Dreams” proclaims, when it comes to developing sports arenas and stadiums, it’s not true that “if you build it, they will come,” and one size definitely does not fit all, Cox Castle & Nicholson LLP‘s Ira Waldman tells GlobeSt.com. At the recent American College of Real Estate Lawyers meeting in San Diego, Waldman moderated a panel entitled “Game On: The Myth and Reality of Sporting Venues and Urban and Suburban Development.” Featured panelists included Greg Carey, chairman of the public sector and infrastructure group at Goldman Sachs; Roger Noll, professor emeritus at Stanford University and the director of the program in regulatory policy in the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research; and Alan Ritchie, a partner at Thompson Hine. The panel participated in a lively discussion examining the many factors—and players—that are involved in the decision to locate and construct a sporting facility and the factors that indicate ultimate success or failure in the venture.