‘What about the community impact?’: The Corpus Christi ‘hook’ Emily S. Sparvero a,b , Stacy Warner b, * a The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, 222 Bellmont, Austin, TX 78712, United States b East Carolina University, Department of Kinesiology, 173 Minges Coliseum, MS 559, Greenville, NC 27858, United States Teaching note This case study draws on theory in the following areas (1) public financing of sport facilities and in particular, the method of bonds and the impact on and involvement of local taxpayers, (2) community impact of minor league sport teams, and (3) leveraging of sport teams and facilities. This case is centered on Justin Drew, the president of the Corpus Christi Hooks, who must work with city officials to ensure that his minor league baseball team does not lose local support. The city of Corpus Christi helped finance the Hooks’ stadium a few years prior, and now with new members on City Council, tough economic Sport Management Review 16 (2013) 524–532 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 19 June 2012 Received in revised form 11 September 2012 Accepted 26 November 2012 Keywords: Community benefits Public financing of sport facilities Sport economics Sport leveraging A B S T R A C T This case study draws on theory in the following areas (1) public financing of sport facilities and in particular, the method of bonds and the impact on and involvement of local taxpayers, (2) community impact of minor league sport teams, and (3) leveraging of sport teams and facilities. This case is centered on Justin Drew, the president of the Corpus Christi Hooks, who must work with city officials to ensure that his minor league baseball team does not lose local support. The city of Corpus Christi helped finance the Hooks’ stadium a few years prior, and now with new members on City Council, tough economic times, and a history of folded professional sports teams in the city, Drew must be proactive in seeing that the Hooks do not meet a similar fate. The case presents a common challenge confronted by communities that host professional sport teams. In many cases, cities must provide some level of public financing for sport facilities in order to attract or retain a team. To gain public support, various promises are made about the potential for the team to transform the community. However, once public funding is secured and a team and facility is in place, it is unclear who has the responsibility for delivering on these promises. The situation presented in this case is not unique. In fact, similar claims are made about the impact of a sports team, regardless of the size of the host community or the type of team. This case gives students the opportunity to measure impact and also think critically about how to leverage a sports team to create value for the community. Although the characters in the case are fictitious the case draws upon actual facts and data from public records regarding Corpus Christi and their minor league baseball team, the Hooks; thus, providing students with a realistic dilemma to consider. The case is intended for use in Sport Finance/Economics and Sport Policy courses, but could also be adapted for other courses such as Sport Marketing, Sport Communication, Facilities and Event Management or even Research Methods. ß 2012 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 252 328 0095. E-mail addresses: stacymwarner@gmail.com, warners@ecu.edu (S. Warner). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Sport Management Review jo u rn al h om ep age: w ww.els evier.c o m/lo c ate/s mr 1441-3523/$ – see front matter ß 2012 Sport Management Association of Australia and New Zealand. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smr.2012.11.003