The Most Valuable Part of a Stadium Is the Sky Above It

The most valuable part of a stadium is not the luxury boxes or the VIP buffets. It's the oxygen-rich 200 feet sitting directly above it. This is billionaires' favorite money glitch about owning a team.

Ad Coelum Doctrine

It all goes back to an ancient property law: if you own the dirt, you own everything from the center of the earth to the top of the universe. In practice, the FAA limits this to about 200 feet. But owners have realized that paying property taxes on a giant bowl used 10 times a year is a poverty move.

With all those acres of land comes all the air above them — and that is a tradeable asset known as air rights. Developers call it the floor area ratio.

The Micro-City Model

Think of the Warriors' Chase Center or the Cubs' Wrigleyville. These developers have built 365-day-a-year micro-cities around the stadiums. Luxury condos, offices, and $18 avocado toast you can smell from every angle. You're paying $5,000 a month to feel the earth shake every time Curry hits a three.

With most modern stadiums covering around 500,000 square feet and a FAR score of eight, that gives you 4 million square feet of developable space above the stadium. Which is why every modern render — even at the college level — has apartments above and around it. The real estate unlocks the sports, not the other way around.