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Thank you for your interest. On-line registration has been shut-down. We are no longer accepting reservations for this event. You will be able to watch the program via live-feed the day of the event (Watch Now).

A New Milwaukee Sports and Entertainment Arena?  Divining the Benefits and Dividing the Costs

It opened to great fanfare in October of 1988, a gift from Lloyd and Jane Pettit to the City of Milwaukee.  Now, only 25 years later, the BMO Harris Bradley Center is one of the oldest arenas in the National Basketball Association, and discussions have begun about its possible replacement.   Supporters of a new sports and entertainment facility say it’s critical to the city’s future. They argue that without an arena that provides new revenue- generating features, Milwaukee risks losing not only an NBA franchise, but major concerts and popular special events.  They say the city’s quality of life would be lessened, its reputation as a major league market damaged.  Critics say that the impact of new arenas and stadiums on communities is overstated, and that taxpayer money should go toward more pressing needs. 

Our conference, a project of Marquette Law School and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, supported by the Law School’s Lubar Fund for Public Policy Research, will focus on the three key questions in this debate.  Should a new sports and entertainment facility be built in Milwaukee?  If so, who should pay for it?  And should a new arena be part of a larger plan that addresses other community or regional interests?  We’ll also examine the economic and psychological impact of sports arenas on cities, how other communities have financed similar facilities, and the public and political appetite for a new arena.

REGISTRATION

7:30 a.m.—8:00 a.m.

WELCOME

8:00 a.m—8:10 a.m.

Dean Joseph Kearney, Marquette University Law School

Marty Kaiser, Editor and Senior Vice President, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

STARTING THE CONVERSATION

8:10 a.m.—9:10 a.m.

Tim Sheehy, President, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce

Marc Marotta, Chairman, Bradley Center Board

Greg Marcus, President and CEO, Marcus Corporation

Cory Nettles, Managing Director of Generation Growth Capital, Inc., Of Counsel at Quarles and Brady, LLP

Moderator:  Mike Gousha, Distinguished Fellow in Law and Public Policy, Marquette University Law School

THE COSTS, BENEFITS, AND FINANCING OF NEW SPORTS FACILITIES

9:15 a.m.—10:15 a.m.

Andrew Zimbalist, Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics, Smith College

Matthew Parlow, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Marquette University Law School

BREAK

10:15 a.m.—10:30 a.m.

THE OKLAHOMA CITY EXPERIENCE

10:30 a.m.—11:10 a.m.

Roy Williams, President and CEO, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce

THE SEATTLE AND PITTSBURGH EXPERIENCES

11:15 a.m.—12:00 p.m.

Introduction by David Haynes, Editorial Page Editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

David Boardman, Executive Editor, Seattle Times

David Shribman, Executive Editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Moderator:  Marty Kaiser

LUNCH

12:00 p.m.—12:30 p.m.

OWNERSHIP’S ROLE IN SPORTS FACILITIES PROJECTS

12:30 p.m.—12:45 p.m.

Introduction by Martin Greenberg, Greenberg Law Office and Adjunct Professor of Law, Marquette University

12:45 p.m.—1:25 p.m.

Craig Leipold, Racine resident and Majority Owner, Minnesota Sports and Entertainment (Owner of National Hockey League’s Minnesota Wild)

Interviewer: Mike Gousha

POLITICAL REALITIES

1:30 p.m.—2:40 p.m.

Chris Abele, Milwaukee County Executive

Willie Hines, President, Milwaukee Common Council

Robin Vos, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker (R-Rochester)

Marina Dimitrijevic, Chair, Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors

Michael Murphy, Alderman, City of Milwaukee

Moderator:  Mike Gousha

CONCLUDING REMARKS

2:45 p.m.