Posted on 09/27/2017 7:31:59 AM PDT by KeyLargo
Multi-Billion Dollar Stadiums: The Seen vs. the Horrid Unseen
By Allan Golombek September 27, 2017
In 1995, the Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis, extracting hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers to help build a new stadium. After 20 years in the Gateway City, the Rams moved right back where they came from – leaving the people of St. Louis and Missouri stuck with a $6 million a year tab to pay for an empty football field. American taxpayers spend billions of dollars a year to lure professional sports teams from one place to another in one of the most expensive shell games in history.
At least Roman Emperors provided bread. Modern-day politicians are spending a fortune in public funds to lure circuses. Over the past few years, U.S politicians have spent about $10 billion to $12 billion subsidizing sports stadiums, according to academic studies. And the pace of stadium construction is gaining speed. From 2011-2016, six stadiums were completed. Over just the next three years, 12 more are scheduled to be. Is it worth the cost?
It is easy see the benefits of a sports franchise – large-scale construction, stadium jobs, increased consumer spending at local restaurants, bars and hotels. New and improved stadiums occupied by a major-league team have a multiplier effect, spurring consumer spending on food, drinks, and parking. They also stimulate nearby development. But the stadium construction jobs are short-lived. Jobs for ushers and concessionaires don’t pay well and last only part of the year. And how much development is actually drawn away from other parts of the city?
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearmarkets.com ...
The Federal provision not to tax state/municipal bonds, does not in my opinion make a federal subsidy.
All States are treated the same and it doesn’t matter what they spend the money raised from the bonds on.
That’s like saying because the Federal government doesn’t tax freeper KeyLargo everytime he uses the bathroom that I and other federal taxpayers are subsidizing his craps.
““Jobs for ushers and concessionaires don’t pay well””
Give them 15 bucks an hour.
No more taxpayer funded stadiums for billionaire owners and their millionaire players.
I caught a tail end of an announcement that the Pentagon (?) paid NFL over $6 million to support the troops or something like that. No taxpayer money should go to the NFL and NBA. Seems both of them also got active in a state's bathroom regulations.
I'm not sure on MLB's position on dissing this country. As for NHL, iirc they were active in promoting same-sex marriage.
I wonder how many “no show” jobs and “executive vice president” sinecures there are at these stadiums.
Impose a $10mil/year fine on every franchise, distributed amongst the offending players who take a knee at the national anthem.
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