Baltimore's iconic sports arenas are getting a facelift, and taxpayers are footing the bill. Is it a fair deal?

By Tom Hall,

Published October 30, 2024 at 12:00 PM EDT

1 of 3 — oriole-park-at-camden-yards-banner.png

The Orioles and the state have reached terms on a new lease for the team to continue to play at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in downtown Baltimore.

Ulysses Muñoz / The Baltimore Banner

2 of 3 — TQ7BA2IG75CPDOJKC52OBEWK5U.jpg

Maryland state officials approved a new lease for the Baltimore Ravens to play at M&T Bank Stadium for the next 15 to 25 years.

Jessica Gallagher/The Baltimore Banner

3 of 3 — black eyed susan preakness.png

Horses race by on Black Eyed Susan Day at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 19, 2023.

Miki Hellerbach

Baltimore is home to several world-class sports facilities. Oriole Park at Camden Yards was recently voted the best Major League Ballpark in the USA Today Readers’ Choice travel award contest, and M&T Bank stadium is full for many of their home game. Pimlico Racetrack, which has certainly seen better days, is an iconic location, home to the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Now, the state is prepared to spend more than a billion dollars improving them.

Are these improvements a good deal for fans and taxpayers? What models do other cities provide for what Baltimore might do with our stadiums?

We talk about the economics of sports today with Jon Morgan, an author who covered sports for many years at the Baltimore Sun, and Dennis Coates, a UMBC Professor of Economics and editor of The Journal of Sports Economics.