Click Me out to the Ballgame: Exploring City Websites To
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Click Me Out To The Ballgame: Exploring City Websites To Assess The Civic Priorities of Small and Mid-sized Communities With Minor League Baseball Teams By Christopher N. Horton A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved May 2012 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee Carlton Yoshioka, Chair Jeffrey Chapman Arnold Danzig ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY May 2012 ABSTRACT The boom in publicly-funded sports facility construction since the 1980s resulted in studies that generally found the economic benefits accruing from facility construction do not justify the costs. However, focusing narrowly on economic costs in large cities leaves out an important part of the story. The author is interested in the possible non-economic benefits to a city from having a sports team and stadium, and focuses on determining any relationship between minor league teams and stadiums and community self-image. The methodology for this review is an assessment of the websites – primarily the website’s front page – i for 42 cities with minor league baseball teams. In addition, a survey of local government officials provides a layer of corroboration for the website review results. Through this assessment, the author brings together elements that contribute to three different fields – facility financing, e-government, and small and mid-sized cities. The website reviews have two elements. First, the author assesses the extent to which the website provides information about the team and stadium on the front page or a website page within two links from the front page. The result is that a relatively low amount of information about teams and stadiums is available on the 42 city websites. Second, the author assesses all the active links on the i website front page and categorize the links regarding whether they are primarily directed toward residents, businesses, or tourists. On average 67 percent of the links on the 42 city websites’ front pages are directed toward residents. In addition to the website reviews, the author reports on a survey of local government executives and managers regarding the city websites. The key findings from the survey are that residents are the group of most interest to the website creators; the websites’ content and appearance generally are intended to reflect the communities’ self- image, and; in general, the low amount of information about the teams and stadiums on the website front page accurately represents the ii importance of the teams and stadiums to communities’ self-image. The survey results generally corroborate the website reviews. ii DEDICATION For my parents, Steve and Linda Horton, who introduced me to the written word and who created an atmosphere that nourished my love of learning. Their unwavering confidence and support have sustained me throughout my scholastic career. For my wife – darling Deborah – whose expansive vision of my potential is a perpetual challenge and reward. For my brothers, Josh, Derek, and Jordan Horton, whose manifold skills stoke my competitive fires. iii For my children, Zachary and Landon, whose lives and love provide daily inspiration. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My doctoral career is a monument to perseverance, and my ability to stay the course has benefited immeasurably from the support, encouragement, and guidance of many people. Numerous members of the faculty and staff in the School of Public Affairs (SPA), both past and present, have aided me in completing my dissertation. Most importantly, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my dissertation committee – Carl Yoshioka, Jeff Chapman, and Arnold Danzig – who believed in my research vision and helped me to transform that vision into reality. Nick Alozie and Heather Campbell served as past advisors, and merit special thanks for encouraging and iv shepherding me through the earlier stages of my doctoral studies. Joe Cayer and John Hall provided support and wisdom at watershed moments in my career at SPA. Various SPA staff including Sherry Dickerson, Chris Hiryak, and Jeanne Ratliff, like present-day Virgils, provided critical guidance to a process that sometimes seemed to have been created by Dante. Finally, I greatly appreciate the nineteen survey respondents who gave of their time to provide a critical layer of data and insight for this dissertation. Family and friends have also been important supporters. In addition to the family named on the dedication page, I have been blessed by a wonderfully supportive second family that I entered by iv marriage. They aren’t “in-laws,” they’re just family. I would be remiss if I did not mention my Horton and Bowen grandparents, all four of whom were alive when I entered the doctoral program. Only Grandma Bowen has survived long enough to call me Dr. Horton, but all my grandparents freely shared their great pride in me and they all continue to be great sources of encouragement and inspiration. Similarly, my aunts, uncles, and cousins have helped strengthen me during times when I questioned the worth of the entire doctoral enterprise. In particular I should note my uncle Dr. Don Berry, who showed me that there would be a sweet day when “How long did you take to finish your doctoral degree?” would no longer be a relevant v question. Several close friends, notably Travis Snell, have provided unswerving moral support throughout my doctoral work, for which I am profoundly grateful. I also am very grateful for the encouragement I’ve received from various church families, with special acknowledgement to those members who have completed doctoral degrees and were able to offer commiseration and support in an empathetic way. Finally, I deeply appreciate all of my professional colleagues in the fields of secondary education and performance auditing for their questions, interest, and encouragement, which helped to sustain my morale and motivation. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………..…ix LIST OF FIGURES……………………………………………………………xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW………………………………1 Introduction……………………………………………………..1 Historical Background of Sports Facility Financing……...3 Purpose and Significance of the Study……………………...8 Research Questions………………………………………..…10 Organization of the Dissertation……………………….…..11 vi 2 LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………….14 Sports Facility Financing……………………………………15 Generally Negative Economic Impact……………………..19 Studies showing both positive and negative economic impacts….……………………………………………………...27 Generally Positive Economic Impact………………………38 The Non-economic Costs and Benefits of Sports Facilities………………………………………………………..39 Negative Non-economic Impact…………………………….42 Positive and Negative Non-economic Impact…………….43 Positive Non-economic Impact……………………………...46 vi CHAPTER Page Description of Facility Acquisition…………………………49 Tourist Cities...………………………………………………..56 E-government………………………………………………….59 Economic Development in Small and Mid-sized Cities…69 3 METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………….84 Website Review………………………………………………85 Coding Methodology…………………………………………94 Survey…………………………………………………………101 4 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS……………………..105 Website Review – Summary Outcomes for Teams and vii Stadiums……………………………………………………...106 Outcomes by Category……………………………………...115 Outcomes by Type of City and Level of Play……………118 Website Review – Summary Outcomes for Links……...125 Website Review – Summary Outcomes for Pictures......135 Outcomes by Type of City and Level of Play……………141 Summary and Analysis of Survey Outcomes…………...157 Summary of Website Review and Survey Findings……186 5 CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS………………………..191 How the Study Helps to Answer the Research Questions……………………………………………………..191 vii CHAPTER Page Other Implications for Literature………………………..202 Suggestions for Further Research……………………….211 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………217 viii viii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Capital Construction Costs and Financing for All Facilities: 1950-2005………………………………………………………………..5 2. Classification of Studies of Sports’ Facilities Economic Impact.18 3. Classification of Studies of Sports’ Facilities Non-economic Impact…………………………………………………………………..40 4. The Process for Acquiring a Facility……………………………….49 5. List of Cities in the Research Sample with City Population and Associated Minor League Team…………………………………….92 6. Coding Methodology for Website Review…………………………94 ix 7. Scores for All 42 Websites for Each of Four Team and Stadium Categories with Type of City and Level of Play Information…109 8. Average and Median Scores for Team and Stadium Elements……………………………………………………………...115 9. Average and Median Scores for Type of City……………………118 10. Average and Median Scores for Level of Play…………………..124 11. Scores for Link Information for All 42 Websites……………….127 12. Cities with Pictures Primarily for Residents, Tourists, and Businesses……………………………………………………………138 13. Ordering of Type of City by Average Rank of Number of Links for Four Different Links Categories……………………………...143 ix Table Page 14. Ordering of Level of Play by Average Rank of Number of Links for Four Different Links Categories……………………………...150 15. Job Titles for 19 Survey Respondents……………………………158 16. Comparison of Survey Results for Question 7 with Website Review Results………………………………………………………165 x x LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Bradenton, Florida Webpage with Team and Stadium Elements……………………………………………………………...113 2. Eastlake, Ohio Webpage with Team and Stadium Elements......................................................................................114 3. Stadium Photo