Not since the Beatles landed in New York has the nation's attention been so laser focused on the arrival of another British rock star, soccer hero David Beckham. The buzz surrounding the newest recruit to Major League Soccer (MLS) and the sport's growing popularity in America have spawned a fresh crop of soccer stadiums. What's more, the construction wave could lead to more mixed-use development in both the inner cities and suburbs.
Soccer-specific stadiums like the one under construction for the New York Red Bulls in Harrison, N.J., can be catalysts for surrounding development. Originally designed as an office project, the site attracted team owner Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), which saw the opportunity to build a new 25,000-seat stadium.
With the stadium as its cornerstone, the $1 billion Harrison MetroCentre project just outside Newark took on a mixed-use bent, with 3 million sq. ft. of offices, 3,500 residential units, and 450,000 sq. ft. of retail planned. Infrastructure work on the development begins in January 2008.
“We've been involved in this development since 1998, but once the stadium became a reality with AEG, it got a whole head of steam,” says Kevin Tartaglione, head of development at Harrison MetroCentre.
A new soccer stadium in the Chicago area has spawned $65 million worth of adjacent mixed use. In suburban St. Louis, attorney Jeff Cooper estimates that a proposed stadium and surrounding development he is pushing will generate $27 million a year in local tax revenue.
A study conducted in late 2006 by Bay Area Economics regarding a proposed soccer-specific stadium in San Jose, Calif., concluded that “a MLS stadium can spur some economic development, even if not on the same scale as a Major League Baseball stadium.” But the jury is still out on more formal analysis, since most soccer-specific stadiums have been built after 2000.
While Beckham's on-field American debut was less than stellar — he played a scant 16 minutes in the July 15 opener — the game drew an average of 1.5 million viewers to ESPN, which is the largest audience for the cable outlet involving a MLS team, according to Nielsen Media Research.
And it was the night's most watched program among men aged 18-34 and 25-54. Those ratings bode well for putting fans in the stands. Still, the long-term gains for stadium owners and surrounding commercial development are yet to be realized.
In the meantime, MLS owners and managers are extolling the virtues of Beckham's future star power. They also hope to capitalize on the fledgling sport's growing U.S.-based youth movement. Member registration in the U.S. Youth Soccer Association has jumped from 100,000 in 1974 to more than 3.2 million players today.
While Beckham continues making appearances at MLS games around the country through the league's regular season ending in October, cities from coast to coast are busy pitching for new franchises — and new stadiums — in their towns.
From L.A. to Frisco
Michael Hitchcock's office is not the model for professional sports managers. Yes, there are the requisite signed star players' jerseys and assorted sports memorabilia strewn about, obviously waiting for the appropriate wall space to open up.
But there is also a large plastic stadium floor tile propped up against his desk, and sitting against a back wall is a huge painted portrait of the rock band Nickelback autographed by all five band members.
Hitchcock wears many hats as the president and general manager of one of the hottest MLS franchises and stadiums in the country, a role he took on in October 2005.
So, is Hitchcock based in New York? Maybe Los Angeles, home to the Beckham faithful? Nope, this is Frisco, Texas. This once sleepy little town, located about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas, now ranks as the seventh fastest-growing suburb in America. The community totaled 80,499 residents in 2006, up 128% from the 35,299 recorded in the 2000 Census.
Hitchcock's office is nestled in a corner of Pizza Hut Park, the $65 million centerpiece of a 117-acre complex built on a soccer foundation directly across the street from Frisco's new city hall. The property includes a 21,193-seat stadium that opened in August 2005 and is home to the FC Dallas MLS club, along with 17 tournament-grade fields.
The entire complex is used 300 days a year, hosting MLS matches, U.S. men's and women's national team soccer matches, major concerts, international soccer matches and high school football. Pizza Hut has signed a 20-year primary sponsorship agreement for the naming rights.
A public/private partnership led by Dallas-based Hunt Sports Group, the City of Frisco and its Economic and Community Development Corporations as well as Collin County and the Frisco Independent School District, financed the park's construction.
Hitchcock says he was offered positions with the Los Angeles Galaxy and Salt Lake City club two years ago, but chose Frisco over the rest. Why? The Frisco facility is at the epicenter of the area's explosive development, as evidenced by the construction cranes rising outside his second-story window.
Restaurants, clubs, shopping centers, two hotels and multifamily projects are now sprouting out of the ground and lining the perimeter of the complex. “This is going to become a sports and entertainment district. People will be working here, playing here and soon living here,” says Hitchcock.
“These property owners like that we're bringing in 1.6 million people to this complex. There is the opportunity for them to get not only the normal flow of traffic from residents, but also the people who attend these events we have year round,” says Hitchcock.
And as the stadium's general manager, Hitchcock recognizes the real estate realities of his environment. “It's a great mix. Sports owners are now in the real estate business more so than ever in the history of sports entertainment. The value of this stadium goes up as everything gets built up around it, as does the local real estate market for homes.”
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