Roger Lajoie operates Triumph Sports Communications, a leader in providing editorial, broadcast and public relations services.

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The Rog's Rant

Cleveland shows what sports can do for a city

CLEVELAND – The slogan that promotes this city is “ Cleveland rocks!” and after spending a few days here, I would have to agree.

Cleveland does rock in my estimation, as the downtown core is pretty nice, there’s lots to do if you like visiting big cities, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is certainly a fun way to spend a few hours (hence the “rocks” in the slogan).

There are lots of problems here as there are in any big North American city of course, but the downtown has certainly been revitalized and there are lots of good restaurants and sites to see here now.

And the major reason for this once dirty downtown getting a facelift?

Sports.

In a perfect world, a city should invest some money into its infrastructure every few decades to keep it vital. But the world isn’t perfect as we all know, and politicians need an excuse sometimes to take the initiative and do something.

So the “excuse” in Cleveland was to build a new downtown ballpark for the Indians with the theory “build it and they will come,” with the ‘they’ being restaurants, clubs, etc.

It worked. Big time. With Jacobs Field at the core (great ballpark by the way and an easy four-hour drive from Toronto ), the downtown has spruced up and the area is a terrific place to be after a ballgame or basketball game.

By the way, the Lake Erie Monsters also make their debut in October as the American Hockey League returns to Cleveland , which will also attract more people into the area as Cleveland has always been a good minor hockey league town.

With the Cavaliers making the NBA Finals, the city’s pride is now on display. The atmosphere is great (despite the poor quality of the final series quite frankly), and the people of Cleveland will benefit greatly from the exposure being on the centre stage brings.

I am not necessarily a fan of using public money to fund sports stadiums and in some cases, it is totally a waste. But if providing funding results in taking a decaying downtown core and making it a place to be once again, then the money is well invested.

It’s the big picture that Cleveland was thinking about when the work was done. Of course in a perfect world that money would be put into schools and hospitals and roads, but that money had invested in more business and services being created. Those businesses and services create more tax revenue which in turn can be used to help areas that really need the help.

To make money you have to spend money, it’s that simple. At the end of the day providing funding for a sports stadium can SOMETIMES result in economic benefits that wouldn’t be possible without them.

The Indians, by the way, are now in the bottom third of attendance in the American League, so the novelty of the new park and their benefiting from it has worn off. But what hasn’t worn off if a nicer, cleaner and safer downtown that everyone can enjoy and that the city can make a lot of tax dollars off.
It worked and it was all good – and as a result, Cleveland rocks!

Good for them. I would come back here anytime and drop some tourist dollars here, which is the entire point of what they did here, I guess.

Comments on The Rant of June 7 on Canadian NHL teams:

“If the NHL was smart they’d have 12 teams in Canada, not just six. This is the only country that really cares about hockey” – Jack in Toronto

“ Nashville , Phoenix , Raleigh , Atlanta , Miami …those are real hockey hotbeds!” – Steve in Oshawa

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