FIELD OF SCHEMES

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FIELD OF SCHEMES: How The Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money Into Private Profit
By Joanna Cagan and Neil deMause
Common Courage Press, revised paperback edition: October 1999
New low price: $16.95

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In this rare peek at behind-the-scenes threats and political machinations, you'll learn why, if you can't be a defense contractor, the next best way to get public funds for private gain is to own a professional sports team. Outrageous, alarming, and all too true, Field of Schemes is an essential play-by-play account of the draining of billions of dollars from the public treasury.

"If this book had been around for the Greeks to read, they would have learned that they should have billed Troy for the horse." --Molly Ivins

Between 1980 and 1990, U.S. cities spent some $1.5 billion on building or renovating sports arenas and stadiums; the bill for the '90s is expected to be more than $11 billion. At the same time, sports teams have become an increasingly valuable investment. Some teams have doubled in value after receiving a public subsidy for a new stadium, either by moving to a new city or by threatening their existing city into ponying up for a new facility.

"A thoughtful and comprehensive examination of the curious issue of love and money in sport." --Frank Deford, sports columnist, Newsweek

Taxpayers, urban residents and sports fans, meanwhile, all come out the losers. Study after study has shown that there is no economic benefit to building a new stadium in your city's downtown -- while there is a tremendous "opportunity cost" in the hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money that could have been spent elsewhere. Meanwhile, fans are left with new stadiums and arenas where the only affordable seats are miles from the action, thanks to the layers of high-priced luxury suites that make the new stadiums so profitable.

"A well-written and poignant analysis of America's stadium mess." --Andrew Zimbalist, author, Baseball and Billions

Field of Schemes details many of these stories, from Baltimore and Cleveland to Minneapolis and Seattle, and dozens of places in between. It tells of sports team owners -- people like Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Little Caesar's Pizza baron Mike Ilitch -- using their money and their political muscle to get their way even against stiff public opposition. And it also tells the stories of spirited local groups -- dedicated folks like those in the Tiger Stadium Fan Club in Detroit and Save Our Sox in Chicago. Made up both of sports fans and community activists, these coalitions have fought an uphill battle to stop wealthy owners from sabotaging the games we love -- and picking the public's pocket for private profit.

A writer, editor and lifelong sports fan, Joanna Cagan has written for the Village Voice, In These Times, Extra! and Brooklyn Metro Times.

Neil deMause is a longtime political journalist who has written regularly for In These Times, Extra! and Z magazine. He is a co-founder of the political zine Brooklyn Metro Times and a devout Yankee fan.