This Day in Sports Business History October 7

On October 7, 1957, the Los Angeles City Council approved a contract with Walter O’Malley (owner of the then-Brooklyn Dodgers) allowing the Dodgers to privately build a new 50,000-seat stadium in Chavez Ravine.

Under that contract, O’Malley had to not only build and maintain the stadium, but also pay for a youth recreation center, make annual payments, pay property taxes once land was on tax rolls, and transfer LA’s Wrigley Field (then owned by the Dodgers) to the city. In exchange, the city handed over ~300 acres in Chavez Ravine.