This paper recognizes the numerous studies that have demonstrated that building stadiums for professional sports team is not a viable strategy for urban development. Despite these studies, however, subsidies continue to be offered to builders of stadiums. Why do these subsidies continue? This paper explores the four main drivers of stadium construction. It also explores the financial technologies used in stadium subsidies. By focusing on the various financial technologies, this paper provides new insight into recent trends in public stadium construction and its well-documented economic consequences. It also demonstrates how these financial technologies depend on non-economic forces--cultural and political forces, for example--in order to function. (Contains 2 tables.)