Minor League Baseball and Local Economic Development

Sport, including minor league baseball, is an object of public policy. Communities can exploit it to promote economic and social well-being, but not without risk.
Drawing on case studies of fifteen locales including Fresno, Birmingham, Durham, Buffalo, Indianapolis, and Colorado Springs, Arthur Johnson systematically analyzes the political process by which communities decide to invest in stadiums for minor league baseball teams. He explores such factors as the presence or absence of a development strategy as a guide in decision making, and the value to a community of a minor league team and its stadium. Johnson also describes the dynamics of minor league baseball franchise relocation, the importance of intergovernmental relations to stadium financing, and the organization and business of minor league baseball, including its formal relationship with major league baseball.

The singing of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" originated in the sandlots and ballfields of small-town America where "historically, the minor leagues made baseball the national pastime." Johnson (political science, Univ. of Maryland) offers a collection of case studies charting the economic development of 15 locales, from Old Orchard Beach, Maine to Fresno, California, that have profited or lost from embracing minor league franchises. This well-documented report demonstrates the need for partnership between private and public sectors in the planning, development, and use of franchises and stadiums to support community economic growth and urban renewal. Highly recommended for the sports management or local government collections of academic and large public libraries.
- Albert Spencer, Coll. of Education, Univ. of Nevada-Las Vegas
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.