Written by: Bennett Grzeszczak
After a long 26 months of patiently waiting Bucks fans and Milwaukee natives alike are set to experience one of the best and most intriguing venues at the newest NBA arena in North America, Fiserv Forum. Its sleek contemporary exterior and interior narrate a story of Wisconsin's pastime. The hard, wood like shell resembles the expansive deep woods of the north, while the sleek bright interior points toward the east with the rolling whitecaps of Lake Michigan. Fiserv Forum will not only provide a beautiful building to the skyline, but rather jobs and income for the surrounding area.
The Past
Although there is this new and exciting building just downtown, it came at a cost. According to Maredithe Meyer of BizTimes, a whopping $524 million dollars was spent to complete this project with about $274 million coming from the owners Mark Lasry, Wesley Edens, Jamie Dinan and from former owner Herb Kohl. The rest of the 250 million dollar investment ,however was put on the state to provide. Along with the extra cost that the state agreed to supply, some of the cost was put on residents in the form of taxes. So, the taxes were placed both on firms and customers alike. The construction of the new arena also brought in plenty of jobs. The construction alone allowed there to be a creation of 4,000 jobs throughout the 2 year and 2 month project (Silver). This increase in jobs available in the community allow for a decrease in the unemployment rate. Click here to watch a timelapse of the construction of Fiserv Forum.The Present
The new and improved home of the Bucks has given so much value to the team. In 2014 when the new owners had purchased the team, season ticket sales were at a league low under 2,500. A couple of months ago in late September, the 10,000 season ticket was sold which rank the team at 11 in the association (Rovell). It shows that the demand to watch entertainment at this new venue is greater than originally expected. This is huge for a small market team like the bucks simply due to the fact that Milwaukee is one of the smallest cities in the nation to house an NBA team. In fact, the NBA threatened to relocate the franchise years ago due to the lack of a new stadium as the Bradley Center was the oldest in the league. But, the new group of owners came in at exactly the right time to save the Bucks from being exported to a different city. On the other side of the spectrum this new arena is rumored to bring in nearly 1,000 more hospitality and service jobs alone. These jobs will also benefit the workers as the Bucks are working with MASH (Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization) to help potential employees find a job sooner than later. With a new arena comes new pay as well. Workers will be paid high above minimum wage at nearly $15 an hour, which beats out many businesses in the Milwaukee Area.The Future
Even though construction on Fiserv Forum has reached its end, there are countless more opportunities for the surrounding area as a whole. Alex Lasry, senior VP of the Milwaukee Bucks, said he's confident everyone will find something they like on the nearly 30 acres of space surrounding the team’s new home (Perry).The opening of the Fiserv Forum Entertainment Block has already brought in two businesses, Punch Bowl Social and GoodCity Brewery have already built or began to build on the entertainment block. These two business are set to benefit greatly off of this location as it is only a short walk from the arena. With the several events happening at the forum throughout the winter there are 100-150 events planned to occur in the plaza around the warmer months (Perry). Overall, this entertainment district and the arena will bring in countless vendors around the area to make it the true entertainment capital of the city and quite possibly the state. Fiserv Forum has already set the most amount of season ticket holders with only about 2 months of full operation, and is set to break countless more in the future. Just like the Bucks slogan, Fiserv Forum is read to Own The Future.
Works Cited
Perry, Ted. “Fiserv Forum's Entertainment Block: Making a Connection with the Community.” FOX6Now.Com, 19 Sept. 2018, fox6now.com/2018/09/18/fiserv-forums-entertainment-block-making-a-connection-with-the-community/.Meyer, Maredithe. “Welcome to Fiserv Forum.” BizTimes Media Milwaukee, BizTimes Media Milwaukee, 21 Aug. 2018, www.biztimes.com/2018/industries/arts-entertainment-sports/welcome-to-fiserv-forum/.
Rovell, Darren. “Bucks Sell Team-Record 10,000 Season Tickets.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 9 Oct. 2018, www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/24942314/bucks-sell-team-record-10000-season-tickets.
Silver, Maayan. “Milwaukee Bucks' Fiserv Forum Opening Receives Mixed Reactions From Unions.” WUWM, www.wuwm.com/post/milwaukee-bucks-fiserv-forum-opening-receives-mixed-reactions-unions#stream/0.
I never viewed the construction of the Fiserv Forum for its economic benefit. When hearing the $524 million dollar price that came with this construction, and the increased taxes that firms and consumers would have to pay I didn't agree with the choice to build the arena. Since I am not a huge basketball fan, it was easy to write off this construction as a waste of resources and money. However, after reading this article it's clear that I was uninformed the benefits that an arena cand brings to a sports team and its city alike. The fact that season ticket sales are increasing is evidence alone that a new, updated arena will bring in more fans and more revenue. Also, construction of this new facility will ultimately create thousands of jobs and an area within the city dedicated to entertainment. From this post, I have a more clear idea of how this new stadium will give back to the city through the implementation of jobs and business opportunities. This construction was indeed necessary as without it, as mentioned, the team could have been relocated. This relocation would result in a decrease of jobs and the removal of that entertainment area that is helping businesses thrive, ultimately causing Milwaukee and its people to suffer.
ReplyDeleteDespite how expensive the Fiserv Forum was, I believe it’ll make that back and some in no time. Despite the Bucks, there’s also concerts that can help bring in revenue for the city and the organization. With how well the Bucks are doing right now the ticket prices are able to be higher and people will still want to go to the games and pay more money.
ReplyDeleteAlong with the construction of the Fiserv Forum the whole area around it has really been built up and the Fiserv Forum will definitely benefit the businesses located around the stadium. I recently saw a concert at the venue and was informed that this was one of four events in a row at the stadium. I have no doubt this was a good investment as it is a better place to see basketball and concerts than the previous arena.
ReplyDeleteI did research about FoxConn and their impact on Wisconsin's economy for my blog after officially being located in Kenosha, Wisconsin and I'm starting to realize how beneficial this will be to the Fiserv Forum. With a brand new plant will come so many job opportunities for people from around the world that will come to Wisconsin and will experience something new. These new FoxConn employees will want to experience what Wisconsin has to offer on a entertainment standpoint, not just for basketball but concerts and other venues as well.
ReplyDeleteThe introduction of the new Fiserv Forum will not only create new jobs and opportunities to those in the Milwaukee area, but could even have the potential to increase demand in ticket sales for concerts and sporting events held there, along with food and beverages sold in the forum. This is because even though the old Bucks Arena was of high quality and produced lots of sales to events, the new Forum allows for many different platforms to thrive within one location, as it is creating a sense of community. Also, even though the benefits of the new forum will outweigh the downfalls, we still have to consider what negatives come along with the new forum. While the obvious answer would be money, there is much more, such as previous job losses. Even though there will be many new job opportunities from the Forum, the relocation of the Bucks caused for many employees to get laid off, as owners of the Forum wanted fresh faces with new ideas. Overall, the opportunity cost of both the money and laid off employees is a small price to pay for the new Fiserv Forum that will have an outstanding affect on the Milwaukee area, and I agree that it was a smart decision.
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