If You Build It, Will They Pay?

Newsweek, October, 2008 by Johnnie L. Roberts and Andrew Murr

Luxury stadiums are on the rise. A top seat can cost $150,000. Beer costs extra.

Two diligent, if hapless, would-be sports entrepreneurs couldn’t resist the pecuniary opportunity at hand. It was April 18, 1923—opening day of the new Yankee Stadium. A $2.5 million marvel (the equal of $30 million now) built on a 10-acre parcel in the Bronx, it was reputedly the first ballpark to be heralded a “stadium.” No other sports venue rivaled the size of the “House That Ruth Built,” as the place was soon known. And it was worth every cent of Babe Ruth’s annual $52,000 salary. Swinging mightily on that chilly inaugural day before a festive crowd of 74,200, Ruth hit a home run to bring the Yankees a 4-1 victory over the archrival Boston Red Sox. But the luckless entrepreneurs missed out on the electrifying action: one had tried to sell his ticket for ...