#J.C. Bradbury

[subsidystadium]

Why are taxpayers giving the Chamber of Commerce a blank check?

Let’s say your local sports team wants a new stadium and is trying to get public opinion on their side. Or one of your local city leaders wants to get the public ready for taxpayer money being used on a new sports venue. One of their first calls will be to their local Chamber of Commerce (“CoC”). Here, they can get people to give interviews with local media about how necessary and meaningful a…

[archieroberts]

Entry 1 - SVAEM

Topic 1: Sustainability Practice of a sports venue

Marvel Stadium, located in Docklands, is one of the premier sporting stadiums within Melbourne city. Seating roughly fifty-three thousand spectators, it allows an awesome viewing experience combined with great atmosphere. The stadium was built in 2000 and opened shortly after. It was first known as Telstra Dome, then Etihad Stadium, but now, it’s known as Marvel Stadium. It hosts many events annually such as AFL matches, BBL matches, soccer matches, concerts and more events. The stadium hosts multiple meetings and events daily, and sport nearly comes as a second purpose for it. The venue has been reported to be worth $460 million as of 2022 (Case Study, 2022).

The practice of maintaining a sustainable environment is critically important (Ehnert et al., 2016). Large sporting venues must ensure a high degree of sustainable processes and practices at all times (Sardana et al., 2020). Like may venues which hold professional sporting events, Marvel attains and keeps fantastic sustainability practices. It is thoroughly cleaned after each event/match by it’s hundreds of workers. It’s always cleaned exceedingly well in preparation for the next event. The event has put in place excellent health and safety policies, which can be found easily on its website.

The first practice it’s taken is the recycling of bottles. The venue contains eleven machines which have the ability to recycle bottles sustainably (BottleCycler and Marvel Stadium, 2022). This practice is always crucial for many reasons, mainly to create a healthier planet for humans, animals, and plants. Marvel is apparently on pace to recycle sixty thousand kilograms of plastic bottles in a twelve-month period (BottleCycler and Marvel Stadium, 2022). Overall, its ability to recycle plastic and glass bottles is wonderful.  

The second way Marvel ensures sustainability is through its water saving initiatives. The ability to save water is an honourable way to be sustainable. It enables water to go elsewhere and used for good purposes rather than wasting it. Since 2008, Marvel has prioritized saving water at its venue. In those sixteen years following, it has decreased the stadium’s water usage rate by an amazing 25% (About Marvel Stadium, 2023). They accredit this figure to implementing seventeen rain-water tanks across the venue. To keep tracks of its progress, Marvel have introduced a Building Management System (BMS). Which essentially ensures the rain-water machines intake and expend is clean and productivity is increased. Here is a YouTube video which brilliantly shows off the venue, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l57K5S4aSvg  

Overall, Marvel Stadium is a great venue with sustainable practices.

References:

About Marvel Stadium. (2023, August 25). Water saving initiatives. https://www.marvelstadium.com.au/about-the-stadium

Bradbury, J.C. (2022). The impact of sports stadiums on localized commercial activity: Evidence from a Business Improvement District. Journal of Regional Science, 62(1), 194–217. https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.12560

Chen, J. Lu, A. Zhai, F. (2019). Regional Layout and Planning of Large-Scale Sports Stadiums and Gymnasiums in Cities. Open House International, 44(3), 72–75. https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-03-2019-B0019

Clevertronics Marvel Stadium Case Study. (2022). Case Study, https://clevertronics.com.au/sites/default/files/2022-09/Clevertronics_Marvel-Stadium_Case-Study_AU_2022.pdf

Ehnert, I. Parsa, S. Roper, I Wagner, M. Muller-Camen, M. (2016). Reporting on sustainability and HRM: a comparative study of sustainability reporting practices by the world's largest companies. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 27(1), 88–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2015.1024157

Korycki, L. (2022, August 8). BottleCycler and Marvel Stadium crushing sustainability. Waste Management Review, https://wastemanagementreview.com.au/bottlecycler-and-marvel-stadium-crushing-sustainability/#:~:text=Marvel%20Stadium%20is%20on%20track,venues%20to%20manage%20glass%20waste.

Matheson, V. (2019). Is there a case for subsidizing sports stadiums?. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 38(1), 271-277, DOI: 10.1002/pam

Marvel Stadium. (2023). Health and Safety Policy. https://www.marvelstadium.com.au/health-and-safety-policy/

Sardana, D. Gupta, N. Kumar, V. Terziovski, M. (2020). CSR ‘sustainability’ practices and firm performance in an emerging economy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 258, 120766. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120766

[subsidystadium]

Worcester was promised that Polar Park would pay for itself, it has not and will not

In 2018, the city council of Worcester, Massachusetts, agreed to finance a substantial portion of taxpayer money to build a brand-new ballpark. Although the city would be borrowing around $100.8 million for this project (making it the 4th most expensive minor league ballpark to be built), city leaders justified this expense by stating how the ballpark would fund itself, if not make the city money…