Most current stadium construction projects place cost overruns on the team owner, even when a public entity will ultimately own the venue.

The proposed Tampa Bay Rays ballpark illustrates the model. Public participation in venue construction is capped at $876 million, while the Rays are responsible for $1.37 billion plus any overruns. The team, in other words, carries the marginal construction risk.

Industry research has found that megaprojects over $1 billion typically run 30 percent or more over budget. At the scale of a $2 billion stadium, even a 10 percent overrun adds $200 million to the project cost.

That exposure gives team owners a strong reason to identify where overruns come from and how much of that risk can be mitigated before construction begins.

Some overruns result from conditions no one could reasonably predict. But many stem from issues that can be addressed earlier, including incomplete design, scope changes, coordination failures and inadequate front-end planning. Research on megaprojects has attributed nearly three-quarters of cost and schedule overruns to execution problems.

That is where pre-construction planning matters. Lean Construction, Integrated Project Delivery and earlier involvement of specialty trades can bring decisions forward, improve coordination and expose cost conflicts before they become expensive changes during construction.

For stadium technology, the stakes are significant. Technology can account for more than 10 percent of stadium construction CapEx and touches nearly every major building system. Planning that scope early gives ownership a better chance to get the technology it needs within the original budget.