[Bogeygolfer]

"No taxpayer money should ever be used for sports stadiums."

I find that to be so short sighted. Why shouldn't cities be allowed to compete with one another for a sports franchise. The winners here are the cities who generate enormous tax revenue as well as less tangible benefits. Why do you think the cities all want a franchise? I find the idea to be a no brainer. If you consider the city an entity or business and the residents the owners I want to do everything in my power to find good long term investments to help the city prosper. Sorry but not every investment turns out golden so you can find a few sad stories, half of them involving the Raiders. Here is actually a way to spend tax dollars in a manner that generates income and wealth for a city and you say no?

[jimtorr]

...........so you can find a few sad stories, half of them involving the Raiders.

I challenge you to come up with even one success story, with proof that a new sports team was a net profit for a city/county, when the city/county paid for the facilities.

[isthisnickcool]

Sports stadiums do not return money to the taxpayer. They make money for sports franshice owners that are already wealthy. The exception to that is George W. Bush who got rich off the Texas Stadium deal.

Here is just one study on this matter.

You cannot provide any real data that says that the taxpayer gets anything back on their investment. Heck, in most cities the majority of taxpayers never even see the inside of the stadium.

[rellimpank]

--I find the idea to be a no brainer. If you consider the city an entity or business and the residents the owners--

--next "city" live in I'll try and cash out my ownership position and take it with me---

[MinorityRepublican]

Bingo! You are right. That is why Washington D.C. attracted Montreal Expos to move to the Nation's Capital by building a new stadium. I would say this is similiar to New York City having Central Park, residents of a major city needs to have parks, stadiums, restaurants, etc to prevent them from moving to the Suburbs which would cause a great loss in tax base for the city.

So building a sports stadium is a great investment.