Newspaper Framing and Stadium Subsidization

Public subsidies continue to be used to support the construction of stadium facilities for major league sports teams in North America. Within this context, the local newspaper, as a beneficiary of pro-growth development strategies, becomes a platform for the debate surrounding the utility of public subsidization. This article examines local newspaper discourse surrounding 1984 and 1990 referenda in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, and identifies four stadium subsidy frames: (a) economic development, (b) civic status, (c) civic priorities, and (d) financing. Consistent with previous research, the local newspaper was a proponent of the stadium subsidy in both cases. Another key finding relates to the presence of frame coupling in the 1990 debate. This suggests the emergence of a dynamic discourse that fused tangible and intangible stadium subsidy arguments.