Revolution

Abstract

How can we design stadiums to better serve their communities: visually, physically, and financially? In the last decade, there has been a trend in the United States to design and build soccer-specific stadiums for Major League Soccer (MLS) teams. While most teams now have a soccer-specific stadium, there are few teams who have not yet followed on the trend due to no immediate desire to move to a new venue. Like most stadiums and arenas, the general public does not view the public funding of them in a favorable manner. This is due to their increasing costs and lack of return of investment for their cities. Even when publicly funded on the hands of the tourists, many argue that the extra revenue should be invested in the community instead of the sporting venues. One of the more recent trends within stadium design has been to create large entertainment districts surrounding the stadiums. We have seen this be very successful for football stadiums and baseball parks, leading to new developments in cities that see high daily usage. Even though the surrounding context has significant usage, the stadium anchoring this neighborhood is still unused most of the year. The stadiums are also generally locked and closed off on the many days that they aren’t being used. To create a resolution to this issue stadiums should be designed with mixed uses as a priority to generate year-round revenue and become more connected to their cities.