Actually, it has been proven time and again, that taxpayer funded stadiums do not do much for the economy as a whole for cities and it doesn’t bring in the money they claim.
I am NOT in favor of taxpayer funded stadiums, arenas or anything else. You are correct. They never pay back. However, as I just stated in another post, the team owner can TRY to leverage the potential movement of the team to another city to maximize the tax breaks they get. That is just smart business. If the government votes to GIVE them the tax breaks then the people need to blame the government representatives. Not the team owner.
On a small time basest I have see this work right here in Nashua, NH. There was an abandoned building formerly a large shoe store(Alec’s) on main street in downtown Nashua. Alec’s built a new store elsewhere in the city.
So, the city bought the two story building and spent millions remodeling it. It is now the Nashua Center for the Preforming Arts. It seats 700 people. It brings people into downtown Nashua to see a show. I saw Everclear there last summer. I have also seen Robert Cray there. They have multiple shows every week.
Every time I have gone to a show there I went to dinner before the show at one of the restaurants within walking distance to the venue. I paid for parking in the garage around the corner. Each of the shows I saw were sold out. So, 700 tickets sold. Potentially, each one of those people went out before or after the show. So, how much tax revenue was raised for the city of Nashua because there was a show there on a Thursday night? I have no idea. But I suspect quite a bit.