The story of Buffalo and its stadium is not all that different from other downtown stadiums, according to several national economists who have studied the effects of stadiums on downtowns. A 1996 study of 47 cities with pro teams found that sports has no significant impact on the personal income growth of a community, according to the Robert Baade, one of the study's authors at Lake Forest College in Illinois. The study found that of those cities, Indianapolis was the only city that experienced a positive increase in income that could be tied to athletics during a 29-year period from 1959 to 1988. Very little, say some economists. Passmore said that without sports, consumers would simply shift their spending to other leisure pursuits, such as movies, dining out and special events.
Sports are seasonal events that only bring in money while the team is playing.
Few, if any new businesses locate near stadiums because acres of parking lots separate them from their potential customers. Also, existing traffic patterns and easy access to expressways steer fans away from the city's commercial district where they could spend money. Leases often ensure a team's profitability by diverting stadium revenues into the team's coffers instead of the public's purse. Plusquellic said he can't say for sure how similar Akron's downtown will look to Buffalo's ten years from now. People could lose interest in baseball.