Sport Facility Management: Organizing Events and Mitigating Risks

by Robin Ammon Jr., Richard M. Southall, Mark S. Nagel

In Recent Years, the Construction of New Sport Facilities has steadily increased. In North America alone, there are 120 major professional sport franchises and 90 of these teams are playing in new stadiums, or are planning to construct new facilities. While stadiums and sporting facilities have long dotted the physical and cultural landscape, the new arenas are being built with features that will appeal to a wider variety of users.

261 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

Reviews

[Tyler Ridpath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the assigned book for my Sports Venue Operations class and unlike most textbooks I’ll actually crack it open and read it when I’m bored. The authors do a good job organizing the chapters because it follows the actual feasibility process of designing a facility starting with planning and construction and ending with ticket and box office management.

One of the chapters I really enjoyed reading was chapter 5: Revenues and expenses. Though I don’t plan on going into facility management, I thought it was interesting because, from an outside eye, it’s somewhat easy to think of all streams of revenue such as parking, tickets, concessions, merchandise, sponsorships, media, etc. However being introduced to all of the expenses a facility must pay was an eye opener, such as mortgage and rent, maintenance, utilities, taxes, personnel expenses, and insurance. It’s somewhat hard to believe that more facilities don’t come out in the red, no wonder the food and beer is so expensive!

Another chapter I found intriguing was chapter 3: construction and finance. This chapter made me surprised any facility has ever been built. The process to constructing a new venue is something I can honestly say I never want to be involved in. The processes of running feasibility studies, to rezoning, to selecting an architect/ contractors, to actually beginning construction is a very strenuous process that can take years, and after the years, there’s still no saying whether or not the facility will get built.

Overall, really found the book very informative. Every chapter starts off with a true story using aliases to get the reader hooked and foreshadows the context of the chapter so my hats off to the authors who have successfully made a college kid who doesn’t much care for reading textbooks interested in the material. Two thumbs up!