Time to get your crystal balls out.

Actually, there's one "near-future" trend I'm latching on.

Some cities, and many ant-stadium-funding groups, tend to use Andrew Zimbalist as a source for their quotations. Zimbalist is apparently working on a comparison now between European club economics (where sports stadiums are usually NOT publically funded) and the American standard. I tend to think that the leagues better watch out, because the "franchise free agency" gig is about up.

I live in St. Louis, and some interesting legal wrangling may soon transpire with regard to the Cardinals new BB stadium.

This stadium is a total boon-doggle (you can guess my opinion on the matter), especially since Busch Stadium has been kept in fantastic shape. Clearly the ownership wanted a new park, which would serve as a pretext for dramatically increased ticket prices and more of the coveted "luxury boxes".

So they charged ahead with design of a rather ugly "retro" $400 million park. Financing was still iffy up until ground-breaking. Here's the exciting part - St. Louis county (from which St. Louis City seceeded in the late 1800s, to avoid subsidizing those living in the boondocks) decided out of the goodness of their heart to commit something like $50 mill of bonds to the Cardinals, with no real guarantee of payback. The St. Louis county electorate was none-too-thrilled about it.
One judge ruled it a done deal. A referendum recently passed that such funds could not be committed without a referendum in the future, and a court must now decide if this can be applied retro-actively, which would leave the Cards in aa world of financial hurt...

Stay tuned.... the palms are being greaased....