1.0 v 2.0 Eras of Sports-Anchored Districts

Nearly a decade ago, The Battery Atlanta opened and showed the sports industry what’s possible. Now, we're in a second wave, and what worked then won't necessarily work now. Here’s a quick breakdown of the 1.0 era v the 2.0 era.

Then: 1.0 Emergent & Experimental

- Real estate was a voluntary venture. Teams figured it out as they went, with only the most ambitious and well-capitalized trying it.

- Patient capital enabled longer timelines and lower stakes, allowing more room for trial and error.

Now: 2.0 Mandatory & Competitive

- Leagues increasingly require commercial real estate districts to secure franchise rights to boost overall value. 

- Private equity is pouring in, expecting faster execution with less room for errors that result in expensive mistakes.

The inherent problem with 2.0 is that some people claim expertise across the entire lifecycle—from site planning and preconstruction to ongoing operations and niche public-private partnerships. However, each stage is complex and requires years of specialized knowledge to really understand how to generate the most value. 

The properties that succeed are those that learn from the 1.0 era. The stakes are higher, the timelines are tighter, and tapping into specialists matters.