Thursday, June 1, 2017

Miller Park

Nathan Burke
In order for our communities to have great wealth and fame, we absolutely need professional sporting events. We also need new, fashionable arenas for those events to take place in. Of course the marginal cost will be large over time, it will still be worth it because of the marginal benefits. New professional sporting arenas will bring great wealth to the community economically and will benefit almost everyone in the community. For example, Miller Park added nearly $300 million to the local economy annually (Journal Sentinel). Now that the Brewers are getting better as a team, more and more people will purchase tickets for their games and their revenue will continue to raise. Just look at what that small amount does for the economy in such little time. This park created a positive externality for mostly everyone around it.
Although there are a lot of positives, there are still some negative externalities. For example, because so many people go to the games at Miller Park, there is an unsteady flow of traffic and it creates another couple rush hours on the highway on the days that the Brewers play at home. Miller Park was an opportunity cost that worked out for the better. The community really needed this and it helped out local businesses and most people, if not everyone.
The park is also used for certain events, like concerts, which bring in people from all over Wisconsin and other states near us. Miller park is a public good that has private goods within it. It’s sort of like a mall. You can walk around the mall without spending a dime, because it was paid for by the community, but the stores within the mall are privately owned, therefore they are private goods. The same goes for Miller park, you pay a small fee to get in, but you don’t have to pay the full price of the park (public good). On the other hand, if you buy something within the park, it’s yours to keep (private good). This gives people the pleasure to go out and have fun.
Overall, communities should raise taxes to help pay for professional sporting arenas. This will help the community to become more wealthy and it will also help create jobs. There is such a little opportunity cost that leads to marginal benefits. In the long run, raising taxes will create wealth in our communities.

Sources
Behm, Don. "Distant Brewers' fans have $263 million annual impact." IIS7. Journal Sentinel, n.d. Web. 29 May 2017.

Kirchen, Rich. "Miller Park adds $300M to local economy: MLB study." Bizjournals.com. Milwaukee Business Journal, 13 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 May 2017.


Staff, BizTimes. "Study validates economic impact of Miller Park." BizTimes Media Milwaukee. BizTimes Media Milwaukee, 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 29 May 2017.

37 comments:

  1. For a city to invest such a large amount of money into a sporting arena, such as Miller Park, it is somewhat of a gamble. The gamble comes when the amount of revenue they will bring in hinges on the team's performance. Regardless of the team's wining, or lack there of, fans will still show up, but it may not be enough. IF the team's success steadily declines over the course of multiple back to back years, the amount of money they still bring in from the fans who still show up, may not be enough to keep the park open.

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  2. Yes the brewers stadium created many positive externalities over time and is still continuing to impact our community. It would be interesting to see the difference in the amount of money the brewers stadium brings in compared to the new bucks arena. Both stadiums are equally important in funding our community.

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  3. Building a new sports arena will pay for itself overtime, but within that time period, many taxpayers would be unhappy. Sport arenas are very large and expensive, forcing the local government to either increase taxes or decrease spending, and most of the time it is a combination of the two. But when the arena starts bringing in a handsome profit, everyone benefits. This extra money in the economy may end up decreasing taxes, helping the individual as well as small businesses.

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  4. Being a very big Brewer's fan myself, it is always great to see lots of people at the park. My friend and I always try to guess the attendance and the more people the better. Sure we would love to have the stadium to ourselves sometimes, but that means that the Brewers aren't making money. It is interesting to see how the stadium attendance has risen over time with the transition but I think it would be interesting to see the percentage of attendance in accordance to the park because County Stadium was not nearly as big as Miller Park is.

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  5. I agree new ballparks and arenas can jump start the local economy, but with the five county residents still paying off Miller Park 16 years after it opened, new venues should not be built very often. I'd say an arena has to last at least 30 years before you should build a new one. Commissioners of the NFL and NBA specifically have stated that they like newer arenas better, obviously because they have a better attendance and make the league more money. However, if a team owner wants a new arena they shouldn't be able to leverage the city taxpayers by saying they'll move the team if they don't help pay, league owners should have to contribute at least half of the money for new arenas.

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  6. I agree with you a lot I think communities should help pay for professional sports arenas because it brings in a lot of money and creates jobs. It's like killing two birds with one stone, your giving people jobs to build the arena and also take care of the arena and at the same time it creates more money for the surrounding community.

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  7. I think you made some good points as to why we need sporting arenas but I will have to disagree with it. I do see how they pull in a lot of money every year but they also cost a lot, and not to mention the most important part. You need space to put them. In a city like Milwaukee it is very crowded and there really isn't any more space for anything else, especially a large arena. Overall I thought the message and argument were great but I just think that it takes more than a big sports arena to make a community wealthy and have fame.

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  8. Thankfully for states like Wisconsin, we have had successful professional sports teams for many years and have built up a good fan base. With new teams or cities bringing up teams, it is hard to gain the initial support and fan base. The cost of everything that goes into building and maintaining the arena is a scary amount that could out to be a big loss. A lot of cities have had their teams since the sport originally started so they have nothing to worry about with change. If the cities raised taxes in order to fund for the new team, it would initially make a lot of people angry with the them.

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  9. It is suprising how much was invested into the stadium, but there is also a high revenue from miller park. There are many positive externalities from big stadiums. There are jobs for many people to work at a stadium. The traffic when there is a game is a real problem, maybe there needs to be some road work done to make the traffic flow more.

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  10. It’s interesting to consider how public goods like Miller Park are similar to a mall because there are private goods within it. Additionally, as the Brewers are starting to get better as a team, the negative externalities like traffic are arguably becoming worth it. It’d be much worse if the Brewers were doing poorly and there was still a large amount of traffic, which makes me believe that having the public support is crucial.

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  11. It's crazy how watching people hit a ball with a stick can generate 300 million dollars annually for the city of Milwaukee. The food, drink and social aspect of a Brewer game is what people really go for. It's great for local brewing companies because they know there is a high demand for there products, and they are able to charge an absurd amount for a beverage. It's cool how Miller park isn't just used for brewer games; sometimes it's used for graduation ceremonies, lower level baseball games, and more.

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  12. Miller Park was a great way of increasing revenue for the city of Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Brewers are considered a small market team for the MLB and according to USA Today the Brewers attendance is in the middle of the pack for MLB teams despite finishing over .500 only 5 times in the last 24 years! Constructing Miller Park could have been just the move Milwaukee needed to continue to bring fans and revenue in for the city.

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  13. For miller park to bring that much money into an economy is great. Although the Brewers franchise is small it's great to see that they are still pulling in decent crowds although their record in the standings aren't all that great, just over .500 5 years out of 24 years.

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  14. It's impressive of how such a small market team for the MLB could bring in such large crowds and generate $300 million Dollars. Not only for MLB games. but also for graduation ceremonies and for little league games as well! Who knew!.

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  15. It's interesting to see the revenue from Miller Park because you can get into the game with a cheap $8 ticket. They get consumers to continue attending their games by keeping them interesting and providing benefits for everyone. I believe that the opportunity cost of traffic is worth it for these games because of the money being brought in. Also, the baseball season is so long, it's worth it to invest in a growing team that can produce a lot of revenue and interest in Milwaukee.

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  16. The benefits of Miller Park are very great like you said. For many people, a trip there is like a mini vacation. I, myself, really enjoying spending time at the fields and watching a game, however, I'm not sure if raising the taxes for locals would be a good idea. The private goods inside the stadium bring in a large amount of revenue such as food and merchandise. And although there are a lot of people who enjoy going to baseball games, I don't think there would be very many people who are happy to pay higher taxes to support a thriving stadium like Miller Park.

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  17. As a baseball player and fan, Miller Park is a really good venue. We've heard it many times how Milwaukee is a small market city, but the attendance shows we are about in the middle which is awesome. The talent level has never been the best sometimes, but Miller Park has a lot of different attractions like the food, beverages, and promotions that get people to come to the stadium. Some people may think that baseball is boring, but they can't deny the fact that is helps the local and national economy by bringing in people and getting them to spend their hard earned income. Milwaukee got lucky with Miller Park and as the team gets better, the money will continue to roll in.

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  18. This is a very interesting topic because in recent years the Wisconsin professional sporting teams have been on the rise. The marginal benefits are much greater than the opportunity cost of having possible rush hour traffic during game time. The teams don't only contribute money to the community, but also instill a culture and a want factor in being a Milwaukee citizen. The team may help economically straight from ticket sales and purchases within the stadium, but the cultural benefits also contribute to the economic success of our community.

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  19. Not only are people from wisconsin coming to the games and add to the revenue of the park but something that also helps the revenue is that out of staters come for the games since they know the game won't be canceled because of the roof.

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  20. It's no surprise to me that Miller Park generates a ton on of revenue for our city. The Brewers have a very long season, and it's always fun to grab tickets with your friends and family and have a cookout before the game, something about it just screams summer. That being said, it's interesting that the baseball park can be compared to a mall, and makes sense considering all the little shops and restaurants within the park. Also, with baseball games being pretty lengthy, I feel like that the opportunity cost of paying for the park's expensive food is worth it since you will be there for a few hours, whereas with a basketball game, usually they are short enough where people do not think the opportunity cost of purchasing food is worth the expense. Lastly, I agree with Jinda's comment about traffic. Since the Brewers are performing well, more people are willing to sit and wait in traffic so that they can see the team, whereas if they were not having a good season, people likely would say that the opportunity cost of going to the game isn't worth the long lines and far away parking.

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  21. Milwaukee being the 4th poorest city in Wisconsin just shows how much they benefit from Miller Park. Which has a capacity of over 41,000 people, each of these people buy a ticket that ranges from $40 to $100. This brings in a title under $2 million for ticket sales alone. There are also restaurants and shops inside the stadium who receive a lot of business from baseball games, also not to mention restaurants around the stadium who also see business from the stadium. The Brewers Stadium is no doubt a huge asset to Milwaukee.

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  22. It's no secret that Miller Park is a fantastic source of income for Milwaukee, but I had never thought of it like a mall in this sense before. When people go to games it's almost guaranteed that they'll buy something from the shops inside, especially because outside substances are banned from the park. I wouldn't have thought of it prior, but it's easy to see how these small shops could make a large portion of the Park's overall income with all the traffic they receive.

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  23. With Milwaukee sports on the rise with Miller Park and the new Bradley center. The city of Milwaukee greatly need that money for the economy to survive. Since then, Miller Park has always come out with the most money for the city and now with the brew crew getting better this year the revenue for the city is needed.

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  24. If Milwaukee didn't have Miller Park who knows what would happen. Miller Park brings millions of dollars in each year. I found it interesting that the better the players do the better the local economy does. I guess sporting arena's and players do help out their surroundings a lot more than we think. If Miller Park keeps making bigger prices on things though Milwaukee could fall into some serious problems. If they can't pay expenses of the building then the players would be paid less therefor wanting a new team. As long as Miller Park keeps making the big bucks Milwaukee looks stable.

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  25. In general I feel that Miller Park has been a positive addition to the economy. The traffic problems that are produced by the park are minimal when comparing it to large cities like Atlanta and Los Angeles. Over time it just seems like traffic is a part of daily life and doesn’t seem to come specifically from hosting games. The multiple purposes the park has is a huge key to the success of the park. With hosting Brewer games alone it has brought in a lot of income, but being able to host concerts and other events only boosts the maximum potential of income even more. Concessions sales and ticket sales alone have risen since the move from Country Stadium, which all adds to the income made by Miller Park. Now as the quality of the team increases, it is only bound to attract more fans out. All of the money that is being spent on entertainment at Miller Park is bringing in millions to the local economy and it can only be seen as a positive.

    Jaeger H

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  26. It is not very surprising to see how much total revenue Miller Park generates yearly. Many people go to Brewers games during the summer as a main priority for entertainment. Miller Park is also used a lot for many other events like concerts and even graduations. Although events may cause negative externalities like traffic, it is not that big of a deal because of how the positives outweigh the costs. For example, going to a Brewers game or concert is worth waiting in the traffic in the Miller Park area. In total, I agree that Miller Park brings in a large portion of Wisconsin's revenue.

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  27. I definitely agree that Miller Park brings in a lot of revenue. In order to keep people intrigued with this stadium, I think they should add some more or new stores. Like you said earlier, these additional stores and food places make it an even better experience. This will also bring more money in for companies who decide to put their goods and services in the stadium field.

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  28. Miller Park is one of the main reasons Milwaukee is doing so well, along with summer fest. These two events bring in massive amounts of revenue for the city. I think having this stadium, the new Bradley center and summer fest is hugely beneficial to Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin as a whole.

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  29. While I agree that the Brewers Stadium has a large impact on Milwaukee, I don't believe that the community would collectively agree that it only has a positive impact as a whole. As you mentioned, the park does generate negative externalities such as the traffic on the freeway during games. Not only that, but people do end up spending money when they go to the stadium. People don't really go to just walk around without attending a game, paying for parking, food, or at least something. It's possible, but rarely happens. However, the amount of revenue that the park brings in is an insane amount. Ticket sales alone bring in the majority of money, plus the food and drinks that people buy in the park. This money that is brought in can circulate into the economy. The park also provides jobs for people (ie. the shops, restaurants, ice cream stands, etc.). Now that the Brewers are doing well this season, it will bring in more revenue as people hope to attend and cheer for a successful team.

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  30. Because Milwaukee is a poor city, having the Miller park stadium brings in money because of all of the shops, and restaurants inside of the stadium. This will bring in enormous amount of money. Ticket prices being anywhere from 40-100+ dollars can bring anywhere from 1.8-2 million dollars. Having the stadium provides income for the city and source of entertainment.

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  31. I agree that Miller Park brings in revenue, although, the Brewers are not a huge or as well known baseball team as the Cubs or Dodgers. When building new sports arenas, it is hard to tell whether or not that kind of investment is worth the money because you don't know if there will be an increase in consumers after the new construction. Also, considering the fact of raising taxes in order to pay for the new arena could make citizens angry especially if they do not see the worth in a new arena.

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  32. In order to keep Miller Park open, tax payers put a lot of money into it. However, some people disagree with this and would rather not be spending their money for something they couldn't care less about. Some of these people would rather save up their money for either themselves or for other public goods. But because the majority of Milwaukee citizens enjoy the entertainment, the taxes are still raised just enough to keep Miller Park a running stadium.

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  33. I agree that having a baseball team in a city has a lot of benefits but if the team is doing bad at the time they may not be making as much money and it may not be worth it in the end. Lately with them doing well they will probably be making a lot of money

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  34. Good job explaining the marginal costs and the benefits, and also how you explained how Miller Park is helping the city itself. I agree and like the point you made about how if the team is doing better, then more money can be put into the stadium and the team, because the benefits should be higher than the costs. It is a source of entertainment and also a source of money for the city of Milwaukee.

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  35. I feel that Miller park has had a large economic benefit to the Milwaukee community by hosting many baseball games and other events. The brewers have been doing a lot better recently which is generating much more revenue by bring in more fans. However, there are still problems going on at Miller Park which is driving people away from coming to the games. For example, traffic is a very big issue that goes on at the stadium so it is very hard to get in and out of the parking lot especially at the end of the games. This issue is making the fans leave the games earlier in order to avoid the traffic. In result, Miller Park isn't going to be making as much money if most people are leaving the games just to keep away from the large amount of traffic when they could be staying and buying food, drinks, etc.

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  36. It is true that local communities can greatly profit from the addition of a new sports arena, but are they the best option to be spending taxpayer money on. Perhaps some cities require more road maintenance due to weather and continuous usage. Perhaps a city could benefit from a park as they might be scarce. Building a new sports arena could also be more difficult for some cities that may not be able to come up with the money to begin with, or cities where there is no suitable location large enough to house such a large building. Ultimately building a new sports arena will differ in results according to the city it belongs to.

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