Saturday, April 29, 2017

Stadium Subsidies Thriving in Sports Season | Economics21

Stadium Subsidies Thriving in Sports Season | Economics21
April is the high-water mark for America’s major sports. Fans will tune in across the country tonight to follow their teams, whether the NFL draft, the NBA or NHL playoffs, or spring baseball. As fun as these sports are, when it comes to funneling public funds to new sports venues, state and local governments should just say no.
Proponents claim the new publicly-funded stadiums will deliver benefits to the surrounding areas. But these claims do not hold up under scrutiny. Stadiums should not receive further public subsidies.
The practice of threatening to relocate if the current locale does not fork over more public money for a new stadium is now common practice, most recently seen with the Raiders leaving Oakland for the Las Vegas desert. 
All told, the Raiders were able to secure nearly $1 billion in subsidies to entice them to move.
The Raiders are just the tip of the iceberg. 

No comments: