More From Dennis Coates

Dennis Coates, president of the North American Association of Sports Economists, has posted his take on yesterday's Baltimore Sun article. If you recall, he wrote an Op/Ed piece about the proposed new arena for the Sun this past August.

Mr. Coates finds that arena "consulting firms effectively assume that workers on these projects would have been unemployed if not for building the sports venue" and that "if the unemployment rolls continues growing, businesses unable to borrow to finance new projects, and real investment falling ... the possibility of building it dries up." It sounds like Mr. Coates thinks the arena has a shot at getting built before the economy gets really bad.

Economic Crisis Threatens New Arena

Is it time to take odds on when (or if) a new Baltimore arena gets built?

The Baltimore Sun's Childs Walker reports today on how the current economic crisis is having an impact on the business of major league sports in this country. This past Friday's Baltimore Business Journal had a story (subscription req'd) about how potential arena developers have funding concerns.

In other news, chocolate milk is brown, things get cold in the refrigerator and my cat's breath smells like cat food.

Lecture Tonight!

Baltimore Architecture Week starts today and runs through Sunday, Oct. 26th (shouldn't it be Baltimore Architecture Week and a Half?) Tonight's lecture, "West Side and Arena Metamorphosis" features Klaus Philipsen and Matthew Fitzsimmons discussing the future arena site and its relationship with the West Side Strategic Plan. 6 PM at The Johns Hopkins University Downtown Center (10 N. Charles St.). Free.

Anaheim Looking For NBA Team Within Five Years

The OC Register's Eric Carpenter quotes Greg Smith, Anaheim executive director of sports, entertainment and conventions, that "within the next five years, Anaheim will have its own NBA team." That city is currently upgrading the 15 year-old Honda Center (formerly Arrowhead Pond at Anaheim) to make it more desirable for a team looking to relocate.

Add Anaheim (part of a metropolitan area with two NBA franchises already) to the list with Seattle (with existing KeyArena or a new venue), Las Vegas (with a new arena that is yet to be built) and Baltimore (with an unbuilt NBA-sized arena and the Washington Wizards about 40 miles south) that desire an NBA team. 

Does anyone really think a new arena is going to be built anywhere with the U.S. in an economic crisis? I sure don't.

Another NBA Expansion Opinion

MVN.com, or Most Valuable Network, "an independent sports media network", has a story by Bijan Bayne for their Outsider column titled "NBA Expansion & Franchise Movement 2.0-The City Game". 

Bayne's story is a little weak; there is no mention of  Las Vegas as a future NBA site (more on that here) and it takes a reader response to mention the newly vacant city of Seattle as a likely site for a team to relocate or expand to.

More importantly, for this blog anyway, is the statement that Baltimore "lacks a large downtown, or even suburban arena" with no mention of the city's upcoming plans to replace the 1st Mariner Arena with an NBA-ready venue. Statements on Baltimore's job loss and urban flight "since the 1970's" doesn't take into account recent stories (like this one) showing the "slowing of the city's decade-long population loss" or the Raven's dominance on the local sports scene.

Blast Announce 2008-09 Schedule

WBAL-TV has a story announcing the Baltimore Blast's 2008-09 National Indoor Soccer League schedule, promotions and ticket information. No mention of the arena's future fate.