Geography of a Sports Metropolis

Abstract

We investigate at the precinct-level the 2001 stadium referendum for the Allianz-Arena inMunich, where voters had to decide upon a projected site as well as on public subsidies for provision of transport infrastructure. This is the first analysis of a stadium referendum with respect to the spatial dimension outside the U.S. The new arena, which is the home venue of the professional soccer clubs FC Bayern Mu� nchen and TSV 1860 Mu� nchen and also was a major venue during the FIFAWorld Cup 2006 clearly won the approval of a majority of voters in one of the referendums with the largest participation in the history of Munich. However, in proximity of the projected site, residents strongly opposed the project, which reflects in significantly reduced shares of yes-votes. Assuming rationality, we conclude that at city level residents expected an increase in utility from the new arena that justified public expenses. However, our results also point to considerable proximity cost, probably related to the presence of fan crowds and congestion. This finding contradicts the existing evidence on stadium impact from the U.S. There are also major differences in the socio-economic determinants of voting behavior, indicating that the expected net-benefit of proximity to professional sports facilities may vary across sports and countries.