Location Analysis for a New Football Stadium
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Location analysis for a new football stadium The case of Feyenoord Rotterdam By Frank Penning Student number: 331420 Supervisor: Erik Braun Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam Bachelor thesis July 2012 _____________________________ Football club Feyenoord aims to hold its position as a top three football club in the Netherlands. The old stadium does not provide enough possibilities to expand the capacity and multifunctionality. A new football stadium does provide these services and that’s why Feyenoord wants a new football stadium. It is not the question whether the football stadium will be build, but where to build the new football stadium. This report will take a look at the location factors for a sports stadium and the decision making process of concerning the new football stadium. Possible locations are tested and a recommendation is given in the conclusion. 1 Preface This paper was written as a bachelor thesis for the major Urban, Regional and Transport Economics at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. The paper is focussed on the new football stadium that has to be built in Rotterdam. The question raised from this project is where to build this football stadium in Rotterdam. Special thanks go to Erik Braun, my supervisor during this period. He gave me several ideas to steer me into the right direction. He also gave some interesting sources that were useful for this paper. Rotterdam, July 2012 Frank Penning 2 Executive Summary This paper investigates the location factors in the decision making process for constructing a football stadium in Rotterdam. Feyenoord wants a new football stadium and it is the question where to construct this football stadium. Therefore, a location analysis is required in order to find an optimal location for a football stadium in Rotterdam. It is important to analyse the location factors for sports stadiums. The location factors are supported by location theories, like the neoclassical theory, behavioural theory and the institutional theory. The neoclassical theory is seen as a benchmark while the empirical value of the behavioural theory is appreciated. The institutional theory regards the firm not as an active decision agent, but as a dependent agent who has to negotiate with its suppliers. The main location factors are those that influence attendance, income, and occupancy. Sports teams has to take into account the land costs, the market potential, the capacity of a sports stadium and the accessibility. Several urban structure models has been used as a theoretical background. The urban structure models show that there is no clear urban structure applicable for every city. The urban structure can be influenced by a governments policy like gentrification or greenbelt policy which can lead to higher land prices in those areas. In order to investigate the relocations of football stadiums, an analysis has been done about football stadiums constructed between 1995 and 2012. The results indicate that most of the football teams are moving away from the central city to the edge of the city. Proximity to a highway is preferred while a location in suburban areas is still rare. Stadion Feijenoord N.V. and Feyenoord Rotterdam N.V regard the renovation-variant and the Varkenoord-variant as the most plausible options for a new football stadium. A critical analysis for these locations has been done. Possible locations for a new football stadium are investigated regarding land prices, availability of land, and accessibility. Finally, recommendations are given to Stadion Feijenoord N.V. and Feyenoord Rotterdam N.V. They should expand their search area for a new football stadium and they should take 3 into consideration possible location in Rotterdam-Noord and along the highways A15 and A16. 4 Table of contents Preface .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................. 3 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 7 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Research question .......................................................................................................................... 8 2 The location choice of sports stadiums ............................................................................................. 9 2.1 Spatial changes of location choices of sports stadiums ................................................................ 9 2.2 Location theories in literature ..................................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Neoclassical location theory ................................................................................................. 12 2.2.2 Behavioural location theory ................................................................................................. 12 2.2.3 Institutional location theory .................................................................................................. 13 2.2.4 Applicability of location theories for sports stadiums .......................................................... 14 2.3 Location factors for sports stadiums ........................................................................................... 14 2.3.1 Site characteristics and economic factors ............................................................................. 15 2.3.2 Accessibility ......................................................................................................................... 17 2.4 Intangible profits ......................................................................................................................... 18 2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 20 3 Analysis ............................................................................................................................................. 21 3.1 Theories of urban structure ......................................................................................................... 21 3.1.1 The concentric model ........................................................................................................... 22 3.1.2 The sector model .................................................................................................................. 23 3.1.3 The multiple nuclei model .................................................................................................... 24 3.1.4 Urban realms model ............................................................................................................. 25 3.1.5 Possible locations for a football stadium .............................................................................. 25 3.2 Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 26 3.3 Results ......................................................................................................................................... 27 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 30 5 4 The case of Rotterdam ..................................................................................................................... 31 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 31 4.1.1 Location possibilities for the new football stadium .............................................................. 31 4.1.2 The Maas-variant .................................................................................................................. 32 4.1.3 The Varkenoord-variant ....................................................................................................... 33 4.1.4 The renovation-variant ......................................................................................................... 33 4.2 Testing other locations for a new football stadium ..................................................................... 35 4.2.2 Potential locations ................................................................................................................ 35 4.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 39 5 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 41 5.1 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 41 5.2 Limitations ................................................................................................................................... 42 5.3 Recommendation ......................................................................................................................... 42 6 References ........................................................................................................................................