Posted on 06/01/2016 8:55:58 AM PDT by MichCapCon
Sports writer and commentator Bill Simmons is transitioning from ESPN to a new show on HBO. In his promotional, “I Believe,” the never-gun-shy Simmons lays out some of his positions.
His last statement is the most notable: “I believe billionaires should pay for their own [expletive] stadiums.”
Michigan has a bad track record in this area. State and local taxpayers have coughed up huge for stadiums for the Lions in Pontiac (and then back to Detroit), for the Tigers at Comerica, and most recently for the Red Wings’ new arena. (Well-deserved praise is due for Bill Davidson, who owned the Pistons in 1988 and financed the Palace of Auburn Hills with no tax dollars).
Stadiums are almost universally panned as bad economic development tools. Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of economics at Smith College and one of the leading experts on stadium financing, writes, “All of the independent, scholarly research on the issue of whether sports teams and facilities have a positive economic impact has come to the same conclusion: One should not anticipate that a team or a facility by itself will either increase employment or raise per capita income in a metropolitan area.”
It’s too late for these past projects, but Michigan should learn its lesson for the future.
I’d take it a step further: equal protection and no tax incentives for any industry. No more shopping around for the city and state with the best tax deal to incentivize a company (or team) to move.
Actually, we TAXPAYERS shouldn’t be on the hook for ANYTHING...but here’s a list of 97 ‘hidden’ taxes we pay, beyond the regular ones we’re already paying:
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/a-list-of-97-taxes-americans-pay-every-year
The city’s participation should be limited to waiving zoning regulations and speeding up the building permit process - no tax dollar outlays. Of course, that means no government contacts steered toward political contributors, either. :)
It’s the scarcity model. With more cities wanting sports teams than there are sports teams there is an incentive to bid against each other. And smart businesses don’t pay for things they don’t have to. Sure, the cities SHOULDN’T bid against each other like that, there’s no economic benefit, but explain that to them. The teams are just making smart business decisions.
It’s just ridiculous that cities with no Mass transit, like Arlington, get all of the sports stadiums so that they can rape the fans to pay $100 for parking.
And now the Rangers are going to build a new ballpark, when the current one is only 20 years old. Insanity.
Bread and circuses.
It is crazy. But that’s the cycle. Teams always want fancier stadiums with more nicer seats they can charge more for, and cities are lining up to give them those stadiums. Until the cities stop, it will continue. The funny part is then the cities complain, but the next chance they get they’re bidding away. We saw that recently in Glendale for Super Bowl 49, they were bitching and complaining about how much money they lost on the previous SB there, how all the NFL press stuff said it was in Phoenix, and most of the hotel nights were sold in Phoenix, including where the teams stayed. And yet nobody bothered to ask “well why’d you bid again”.
If the taxpayers want to build a stadium, it should not be as a silent partner with the owner of a team.
If the taxpayers want to fund the building of a stadium they should get a cut of the concessions and the gate. Just like any other owner.
All to often, owners of teams want all sorts of tax breaks and infrastructure improvements without being willing to pay them back.
They should offer bonds to fund it, otherwise it is just theft through government, no different than “wealth redistribution” to poor people - just worse.
I'll bet the new one is going to have a roof like the one the Astros have. To me the insanity was building a baseball stadium with no roof in a state that regularly hits the high 90's and triple digit temperatures in the summertime. I guess the taxpayers will pay for the do-over.
Good luck with that. City councils and County commissions used to have elected officials who were professionals--accountants, bankers, MDs, business execs, etc. Now they have, as one county manager complained to me, people who can't even balance their own checkbooks.
Sport franchises and their stadiums are nothing more than a money laundering scam to get a dollar into the pockets of politicians and cronies even if it costs the tax payer 10 dollars to do it.
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