Fairly regularly I get asked, “When are you going to write another book on sports stadiums?” I get the impetus behind the question: The first edition of Field of Schemes came out almost 30 years ago at this point, and while the book has been updated twice since then, a lot of stadium and arena shenanigans have gone down in the interim that are worth talking about in greater detail (or at least a more organized format) than the rambling ongoing conversation that is the 28 years of posts archived on this website.
There are two reasons why I haven’t pursued it, though. One is that, to be blunt, writing a book is a hell of a lot of work — I should know, I’ve done it twice — and there’s no way it would generate enough additional sales over what Field of Schemes still sells each year to make it a sustainable use of my time. (Not to mention that Joanna Cagan, who shouldered half the workload the first time around, is otherwise occupied now.) And second, a hypothetical Field of Schemes II wouldn’t look that different from the original book, thanks to the fact that the sports subsidy game is alarmingly unchanged over the last three to four decades: In the most recent revised edition of Field of Schemes, it was amusing to update the “Art of the Steal” chapter on the standard stadium playbook as “Art of the Steal Revisited” and conclude “Yup, owners are still deploying the same six gambits” while providing a few more recent examples, but how many more times does anyone really want to read the same conclusions written in slightly different ways?
That said, there are a few new developments that have cropped up over the years that are worth expounding on in a little more length than the daily news cycle really allows. The state-of-the-art clause dodge. The weird and wonderful world of sports venue vaportecture. The Casino Night Fallacy. I would genuinely enjoy writing more definitive essays on these topics — and even if that won’t amount to the word count (or the required work hours) of a book, it should make for a nice collection for subscribers to this site, especially now that I’ve run out of numbered cab-hailing lady art prints to send you all. Call it Field of Schemes: How It’s Going. (No, please let’s not actually call it that, though that is the working title of the Google doc that currently contains all my notes.)
Here’s how it’s going to work: Every month or so, I’ll complete a chapter on a topic that has come up since the last edition of Field of Schemes. It will immediately be made available to all monthly Patreon subscribers at the $5/month level and up. Once enough of these chapters have been completed — I have a list of seven to 10 topics I’m hoping to hit that are informative, funny, or both — I’ll package the whole thing into either a zine or a minibook (depending how many pages I have and what the most cost-effective binding option is) and send out both physical copies and an ebook version to both monthly and one-time donors, to sit alongside your copies of the real book on your real bookshelves.
The first installment, “The Grift That Keeps on Giving,” is available now as a free sample. If it looks like something you’d like to read more of, and you’re already a monthly FoS supporter, you don’t have to do anything: You’ll be receiving future chapters via email over the next year. (Supporters at the Cheapo level will want to upgrade for access.) If it’s something you’d like to read more of and you’re not currently a monthly subscriber, you can either sign up now, or wait until the whole project is finished and then make a one-time donation that’ll get you a copy. (And, yes, it will also get you fridge magnets, there will always be more fridge magnets.)
It’s a bit of a weird hybrid project, but then, these are weird times, for publishing as for everything else. If you have any questions, suggestions, or requests, please post them in comments below. This should be a fun excursion, and I’m looking forward to getting started.
I moved to Indianapolis in the fall of 1979 and prior to that move never saw how pro sports prospered.
Market Square Arena was built for the Pacers in 1974 at a cost of $23.5 million. In 1999, Conseco Fieldhouse opened at a cost of $183 million. It appears that the debt on Market Square Arena may not have been fully paid off and was instead rolled into the next bond issue.
In 2019 the CIB and the Pacers created a new deal for the Pacers to stay in Indy until 2043-2044 to the tune of 800 million dollars. The CIB reopened the Pacers’ agreement even though they weren’t obligated to do so because of the usual scare tactic, a threatened move of the Pacers. Per their original agreement there were significant penalties if they did move. Since 2005 the CIB has invested over 535 million dollars into Gainbridge FieldHouse.
Then there are the Colts. In 1981 Indiana adopted a 1% tax on food and beverages to fund a football stadium, the Hoosier Dome. The Dome was completed in 1984 and the Colts left Baltimore to come to Indy. That stadium was around 77.5 million. And just like the Pacers the Colts needed a “state of the art” facility. To fund that new stadium (2005) the food and beverage tax was increased to 2%. That stadium cost 720 million, off which the Colts contributed approximately 100 million. State and City funding was 620 million via municipal bonds.
Both the Pacers and the Colts receive 100% of team revenue generated by their facility. The Pacers also manage the venue and book non-basketball events annually and receive all that revenue as well.