Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Brandon DonnellyThe economic benefits of a winning sports team
I was having round 1 of (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner with my father on Saturday night and we inevitably started talking about the Blue Jays.
As I write this post, the Blue Jays are down 2-0 in the ALDS, but by the time you read this email in your inbox (assuming you subscribe), game 3 will have already happened. Either the Jays will be on their way to a great comeback or the season will be over. I am remaining fiercely optimistic.
But in addition to the regular sports chatter, we also started talking about the possible economic benefits of the Blue Jays winning and being in the playoffs for the first time in decades.
We assumed that 50,000 people buying tickets, heading downtown, and spending money on food, alcohol, parking, transit, taxis, and hotels, would be a great benefit to the local economy. And immediately I thought to myself: this would make a great blog post.
But it turns out that the local benefits of professional sports aren’t so clear cut.
There’s been a lot of research on public funding for sports stadiums and a lot of the research suggests that it may not be in the best interest of taxpayers. A considerable amount of the spending does not get retained by the local economy and instead gets siphoned off to the respective league and to concentrated private interests.
But Toronto already has the SkyDome, I mean, Rogers Centre. It’s a sunk cost. So looking forward, there must be some incremental benefits.
Well, a recent article in the Chicago Tribune asked this same question in light of the Cubs heading to the playoffs. And it turns out that it’s also not so clear cut.
Part of the problem is something called the “substitution effect.” When a sports team starts winning (and people jump on the bandwagon), money is simply redirected away from other forms of entertainment towards sports entertainment. In other words, instead of going to see a movie or going to the museum, people go to the game.
I was having round 1 of (Canadian) Thanksgiving dinner with my father on Saturday night and we inevitably started talking about the Blue Jays.
As I write this post, the Blue Jays are down 2-0 in the ALDS, but by the time you read this email in your inbox (assuming you subscribe), game 3 will have already happened. Either the Jays will be on their way to a great comeback or the season will be over. I am remaining fiercely optimistic.
But in addition to the regular sports chatter, we also started talking about the possible economic benefits of the Blue Jays winning and being in the playoffs for the first time in decades.
We assumed that 50,000 people buying tickets, heading downtown, and spending money on food, alcohol, parking, transit, taxis, and hotels, would be a great benefit to the local economy. And immediately I thought to myself: this would make a great blog post.
But it turns out that the local benefits of professional sports aren’t so clear cut.
There’s been a lot of research on public funding for sports stadiums and a lot of the research suggests that it may not be in the best interest of taxpayers. A considerable amount of the spending does not get retained by the local economy and instead gets siphoned off to the respective league and to concentrated private interests.
But Toronto already has the SkyDome, I mean, Rogers Centre. It’s a sunk cost. So looking forward, there must be some incremental benefits.
Well, a recent article in the Chicago Tribune asked this same question in light of the Cubs heading to the playoffs. And it turns out that it’s also not so clear cut.
Part of the problem is something called the “substitution effect.” When a sports team starts winning (and people jump on the bandwagon), money is simply redirected away from other forms of entertainment towards sports entertainment. In other words, instead of going to see a movie or going to the museum, people go to the game.
Support Brandon Donnelly
Brandon DonnellyThe economic benefits of a winning sports team
Subscribe to Brandon Donnelly
Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly.
Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
In fact, a 2001 study by Dennis Coates and Brad R. Humphreys called, “The Economic Consequences of Professional Sports Strikes and Lockouts”, found that during sports stoppages, 37 metro areas with professional sports franchises actually experienced no negative financial impact. And in many cases they performed better.
Interesting.
Having said all this, there’s a powerful sense of solidarity that takes over a city when everyone is rooting for the same team to win. And that’s hard to attach a value to.
In fact, a 2001 study by Dennis Coates and Brad R. Humphreys called, “The Economic Consequences of Professional Sports Strikes and Lockouts”, found that during sports stoppages, 37 metro areas with professional sports franchises actually experienced no negative financial impact. And in many cases they performed better.
Interesting.
Having said all this, there’s a powerful sense of solidarity that takes over a city when everyone is rooting for the same team to win. And that’s hard to attach a value to.
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