Posted on 07/30/2014 4:40:09 PM PDT by Kid Shelleen
The trend of professional sports team owners holding the upper hand over state and local politicians with new stadium construction demands is a long one, stretching across all sports in large, medium and small markets.
And the power comes from one handy threat almost all team owners pull out: We will simply move.
It’s a story line seen from Baltimore to Minneapolis to Jacksonville.
(Excerpt) Read more at bills.buffalonews.com ...
I have been a HUGE pro football fan since the 50s. All of these cities should tell the NFL just where they can shove their stadiums.
NOTHING stirs the heart of a local politician like the computer simulated view of the playing field from his comp tix in the new stadium luxury box.
Wi-Fi???????????????????????
Why?
I thought the game was the thing.
.
For a billion dollar stadium project, the team gets the equivalent of a $4.16 million dollar subsidy for every single home game for thirty years.
Public funding of stadiums is STUPID
and they will fund a “study” that will show the city becomes an economic nirvana with a new stadium. Studies show what the funders want it to show, of course.
That LA ploy certainly worked for the Irsays in Indianapolis.
$725 million from the taxpayers AND they get the money from all the non-NFL events held in the stadium like concerts and conventions.
Absolutely ridiculous due to crony capitalist Democrat mayor Bart Peterson.
And surprisingly (!) the study itself is usually performed by some crony capitalist affiliate.
Yep and it probably cost a half million to a million for the study
AGREE. There is no GOOD reason for tax supported sports.
That’s why new stadiums are getting solar panels and wind turbines.
Soccer is socialist. Oops, never mind, wrong thread.
As long as the majority of football fans are apolitical selfish, overgrown children (think of a 40 year old wearing a jersey of a 25 year old while checking his fantasy football stats), this will continue. The NFL is swimming in cash, but they can’t pony up for their own the “necessities” of a modern stadium.
I am a Green Bay Packer shareholder, they can not move
I know plenty of those overgrown children. They are addicted it seems to the phony religion of sports and can’t seem to pare it down any. Sports first and anything else is second.
Here’s the deal with the crony capitalist government funded projects. It’s true whether you are talking about Lucas Oil Stadium, the Carmel Center for Performing Arts (Palladium) or public transit.
1. The capital costs of the brick and mortar is projected to be $X.
2. The actual costs of building same wind up being least $2-3X. And the promoter of the project knows this.
3. The revenue projected to be generated by the project is $X (so the project is supposed to fund itself).
4. The actual revenue projections are wildly inflated. For example, Carmel’s Palladium had a business plan to pay for itself with four sold out performances per week every week of the year. That has never happened, it’s never going to happen, and the promoters fully know this. The real revenue is some fraction of $X.
5. The business plan to sell it to the government NEVER takes into account operating costs to keep the lights on and the staff paid. It’s only bricks and mortar capital costs.
6. Once the public facility is built and commences operations, it’s suddenly “news” that the revenue isn’t paying for the project. The operators go to the public fiscal body and expect them to make good the inevitable shortfall. That has to come out of the current budget every year, or be the subject of an additional bond issuance. Either way, it is not backed by the revenue from the facility, but instead from general property tax or local income tax funds. Of course this leaves less money for real civic services like police, fire, roads and parks.
7. Once the fiscal body agrees to make good the shortfall, it is forever on the hook to continue the subsidy. And once that happens, any incentive for efficient operation as a business model is gone. Why look to contain costs when the local potentates have undertaken the policy of writing a blank check every year?
8. The private operator, event manager or sports team owner forever guzzles at the government money trough, until such time as they grow tired of same and seek a new playground. Then the process is repeated.
Houston and Cleveland did just that. They ended up shelling out four or five times what they would have spent to keep the original franchises in getting the NFL to return.
The latest here in Vikingland is that after extorting a billion dollars out of taxpayers to build a new palace for Zygi Wilf, the Audobon Society is angry because they are afraid birds will fly into the glass windows and kill themselves.
I’m assuming any bird that flies into downtown Minneapolis in December is really, really lost.
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