When Bigger Isn't Better in the NBA

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker announced Tuesday he would authorize $220 million in state bonds to help build a new arena for the National Basketball Association's Milwaukee Bucks, projected to cost $450 million to $500 million. Walker’s plan mimics one devised by Major League Baseball stadium supporters in Portland, Oregon, last decade that would capture players' income tax payments to pay back the bonds.

This puts Milwaukee within striking distance of completing a financing plan for the proposed arena. But the city might already be home free if it follows this piece of advice: Build a dramatically smaller arena than currently exists in Milwaukee and similarly sized markets, developing a facility more in tune with the future of sports consumption while saving approximately $100 million in construction costs.