New York Yankees: No longer limiting overspending to “Just Players”

Posted on February 7th, 2008. Written by Emmett Jones.

If I were to ask you how much it cost to be a new baseball stadium in New York, what would you answer?

While your pondering that question, let me tell you a few tidbits about the brand new Yankee Stadium that will open in April of 2009. Granite and limestone exterior, conference area with video conferencing, luxury and larger party suites, a 58′ x 103′ center field television screen (6 times bigger than the screen at the current stadium)…and apparently they will play baseball there as well. How much for all of those amenities? $1.3 Billion dollars. That $1.3 number doesn’t seem high to just you, fair reader…the Yankees underestimated the cost of the stadium as well,

cost overruns (the original estimate was $1 billion) included $150 million in enhancements such as the giant video screen, $138 million in food and beverage costs not included in the original estimate and $50 million from delays due to a lawsuit by community groups that sought to halt construction of the stadium.

Goodness. At 1.3 billion, it sounds like they’re going to line all of the 53,000 seats with money. Compare the Yankees stadium costs with the cost of the 8-year old stadium that many are still calling one of the best in the country; Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, which cost around $216 million. Pittsburgh’s market and the time difference too much? Well then look at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, which opened in 2006 and an estimated cost of $365 million.

My point? While I do not doubt for one second that Yankee Stadium will be extremely impressive and other-worldly, you don’t always have to break the bank in order to make an impressive stadium/garner nation-wide attention/win championships. Although, it’s the Yankees…And apparently, for some reason, its a hard lesson to learn.

Oh yeah, the answer to the question? $800 million. The Mets new ballpark CitiField, will open in 2009.

ESPN: Martini bar, other amenities help drive cost of Yanks’ new stadium $1.3B

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