An analysis of the American outdoor sport facility: Developing an ideal type on the evolution of professional baseball and football structures

The purpose of this study is to analyze the physical layout of the American baseball and football professional sport facility from 1850 to present and design an ideal-type appropriate for its evolution. Specifically, this study attempts to establish a logical expansion and adaptation of Bale's Four-Stage Ideal-type on the Evolution of the Modern English Soccer Stadium appropriate for the history of professional baseball and football and that predicts future changes in American sport facilities. In essence, it is the author's intention to provide a more coherent and comprehensive account of the evolving professional baseball and football sport facility and where it appears to be headed.; This investigation concludes eight stages exist concerning the evolution of the professional baseball and football sport facility. Stages one through four primarily appeared before the beginning of the 20th century and existed as temporary structures which were small and cheaply built. Stages five and six materialize as the first permanent professional baseball and football facilities. Stage seven surfaces as a multi-purpose facility which attempted to accommodate both professional football and baseball equally. Finally, stage eight demonstrates a breaking away from the multi-purpose facility back to the single-purpose structure.; This work proposes professional baseball and football sport facilities were limited in some manner by their location. However, economic goals mainly drove the professional sport facility to evolve. Thus, professional sport facilities transformed from temporary to permanent structures into magnificent theatres once baseball and football matured and sport entrepreneurs could depend on people spending more of their disposable income and leisure time within them.; Finally, this work holds professional sport facilities grew to accommodate larger crowds and incurred modifications which made them into highly effective selling machines. Ultimately, this piece demonstrates the history of professional sport facility development, in essence, is the story of man's eager search to make human interaction easier and more pleasurable in a permanent environment. Future professional sport facilities will likely continue these trends but should pay attention to other considerations such as reducing the massive costs associated with the increasingly growing structures.