Defense Paper
Content
Childs 1
Riley Childs
Caruso
UWRT 1103
30 September 2015
My initial inquiry question was “What are the benefits and negatives of publicly funded
sports stadiums?”, after looking at various different sources I determined that overall stadiums
have a negative economic impact on the cities and towns where they are built (Johnson, "Value
of Public Goods from Sports Stadiums: The CVM Approach."). For my initial genretized product
I wanted to make a map that showed business closures, unfortunately I was unable to acquire the
required data set to do so and as a result I had to “pivot” slightly and make a series of graphs.
These graphs are representative of what occurs when a new stadium is built in municipalities. I
was able to get a significant amount of data from the Census Bureau and as a result was able to
assemble a representative dataset spanning three years. Overall I think my product effectively
conveys the result of my research and is in line with the findings of economists who have done
studies on similar subject matter.
This is an effective representation of my Inquiry because it is easy for the view to
understand. The casual viewer can quickly understand the graph just with a cursory glance and if
they want to look at the data more in depth they can examine the graph and gain a deeper
understanding of the data. This genre also effectively puts “hard facts” behind my inquiry and
shows my current conclusion effectively.
Further research on Sports Stadiums in the scholarly realm showed me what research has
been conducted on my topic, unsurprisingly very little has been done. Overall, however, there
Childs 2
were a few available scholarly resources, although those that were available backed up my initial
inquiry on this topic. Although none of the scholarly resources showed the same data sets that I
used to generate my genere product, they all seemed to share the same conclusion that sports
stadiums tended to have a negative impact on local economies (Swindell, “Who Benefits from
the Presence of Professional Sports Teams? the Implications for Public Funding of Stadiums and
Arenas”). This conclusion was cemented after looking at much of the raw data from the Census
Bureau that showed how the economy slowed.
Overall I think that my genre product shows my conclusions and path in a way that
effectively conveys my message and inquiry question. I also believe that my genre product and
overall inquiry path is backed up quite effectively by the scholarly sources I found. Overall I
believe that the general academic consensus is that stadiums are bad for cities, but there is still
much public discussion to have on this topic.
Childs 3
Works Cited
Johnson, Bruce K., and John C. Whitehead. "Value of Public Goods from Sports Stadiums: The
CVM
Approach." Contemporary Economic Policy 18.1 (2000): 4858. ProQuest. Web.
25 Nov.
2015.
Swindell, David, and Mark S. Rosentraub. “Who Benefits from the Presence of Professional
Sports
Teams? the Implications for Public Funding of Stadiums and Arenas”. Public
Administration
Review 58.1 (1998): 11–20. Web
Sage, George H. "Stealing Home: Political, Economic, and Media Power and a PubliclyFunded
Baseball Stadium in Denver." Journal of Sports and Social Issues 17.2 (1993): n. pag.
SagePub. Web.
Childs 4
Original Works Cited
Brown, Eliot. "Use of Taxpayer Money for ProSports Arenas Draws Fresh Scrutiny." WSJ.
Dow
Jones & Company, Inc, 8 Mar. 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
DeMause, Neil. "Do Cities Gain from Subsidizing Sports Teams?" Do Cities Gain from
Subsidizing
Sports Teams? Aljazeera, 21 Aug. 201. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
Dorfman, Jeffrey. "Publicly Financed Sports Stadiums Are A Game That Taxpayers Lose."
Forbes.
Forbes Magazine, 31 Jan. 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
Grabar, Henry. "How to Stop the Stadium Wars." Slate. The Slate Group, 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 01
Oct. 2015.
Parker, Clifton B. "Sports Stadiums Do Not Generate Significant Local Economic Growth,
Stanford
Expert Says." Stanford News. Stanford University, 30 July 2015. Web. 01
Oct. 2015.
Stadiums. Perf. John Oliver. Last Week Tonight Stadiums. HBO, 12 July 2015. Web. 01 Oct.
2015
Childs 5
Riley Childs
Caruso
UWRT 1103
30 September 2015
My initial inquiry question was “What are the benefits and negatives of publicly funded
sports stadiums?”, after looking at various different sources I determined that overall stadiums
have a negative economic impact on the cities and towns where they are built (Johnson, "Value
of Public Goods from Sports Stadiums: The CVM Approach."). For my initial genretized product
I wanted to make a map that showed business closures, unfortunately I was unable to acquire the
required data set to do so and as a result I had to “pivot” slightly and make a series of graphs.
These graphs are representative of what occurs when a new stadium is built in municipalities. I
was able to get a significant amount of data from the Census Bureau and as a result was able to
assemble a representative dataset spanning three years. Overall I think my product effectively
conveys the result of my research and is in line with the findings of economists who have done
studies on similar subject matter.
This is an effective representation of my Inquiry because it is easy for the view to
understand. The casual viewer can quickly understand the graph just with a cursory glance and if
they want to look at the data more in depth they can examine the graph and gain a deeper
understanding of the data. This genre also effectively puts “hard facts” behind my inquiry and
shows my current conclusion effectively.
Further research on Sports Stadiums in the scholarly realm showed me what research has
been conducted on my topic, unsurprisingly very little has been done. Overall, however, there
Childs 2
were a few available scholarly resources, although those that were available backed up my initial
inquiry on this topic. Although none of the scholarly resources showed the same data sets that I
used to generate my genere product, they all seemed to share the same conclusion that sports
stadiums tended to have a negative impact on local economies (Swindell, “Who Benefits from
the Presence of Professional Sports Teams? the Implications for Public Funding of Stadiums and
Arenas”). This conclusion was cemented after looking at much of the raw data from the Census
Bureau that showed how the economy slowed.
Overall I think that my genre product shows my conclusions and path in a way that
effectively conveys my message and inquiry question. I also believe that my genre product and
overall inquiry path is backed up quite effectively by the scholarly sources I found. Overall I
believe that the general academic consensus is that stadiums are bad for cities, but there is still
much public discussion to have on this topic.
Childs 3
Works Cited
Johnson, Bruce K., and John C. Whitehead. "Value of Public Goods from Sports Stadiums: The
CVM
Approach." Contemporary Economic Policy 18.1 (2000): 4858. ProQuest. Web.
25 Nov.
2015.
Swindell, David, and Mark S. Rosentraub. “Who Benefits from the Presence of Professional
Sports
Teams? the Implications for Public Funding of Stadiums and Arenas”. Public
Administration
Review 58.1 (1998): 11–20. Web
Sage, George H. "Stealing Home: Political, Economic, and Media Power and a PubliclyFunded
Baseball Stadium in Denver." Journal of Sports and Social Issues 17.2 (1993): n. pag.
SagePub. Web.
Childs 4
Original Works Cited
Brown, Eliot. "Use of Taxpayer Money for ProSports Arenas Draws Fresh Scrutiny." WSJ.
Dow
Jones & Company, Inc, 8 Mar. 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
DeMause, Neil. "Do Cities Gain from Subsidizing Sports Teams?" Do Cities Gain from
Subsidizing
Sports Teams? Aljazeera, 21 Aug. 201. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
Dorfman, Jeffrey. "Publicly Financed Sports Stadiums Are A Game That Taxpayers Lose."
Forbes.
Forbes Magazine, 31 Jan. 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.
Grabar, Henry. "How to Stop the Stadium Wars." Slate. The Slate Group, 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 01
Oct. 2015.
Parker, Clifton B. "Sports Stadiums Do Not Generate Significant Local Economic Growth,
Stanford
Expert Says." Stanford News. Stanford University, 30 July 2015. Web. 01
Oct. 2015.
Stadiums. Perf. John Oliver. Last Week Tonight Stadiums. HBO, 12 July 2015. Web. 01 Oct.
2015
Childs 5
