The Case Against Public Financing of Sports Stadiums 2007

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Martin Hash
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The Case Against Public Financing of Sports Stadiums 2007

Post by Martin Hash » Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:13 pm

1. Introduction
Public financing of sports stadiums is not a new phenomenon, nor have the arguments for and against changed: advocates of government subsidies focus on the supposed economic benefits to the community at large; while detractors make the spiteful observation that wealth is simply realigned, with the average taxpayer receiving nothing while the beneficiaries reap rewards greater than their contribution.
Why do municipalities continue to pursue professional sports franchises with the lure of public money when eighty percent of Americans oppose the use of their tax dollars for new sports facilities? Raymond Keating, Taxpayers Lose in Stadium Socialism, Orlando Business Journal, June 21, 1996, at 1. What economic advantages could governments possibly be pursuing to risk such political catastrophe? Some say that the personal hubris of elected officials to become a "major league" city is the attraction. Steven Khalil, New Stadium? The Republicans Sell Out, Detroit News, June 23, 1995, at E1. Others insist that sports are the miracle engine of economic development particularly in blighted areas. Connection, in Sports, Jobs, & Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums, 494 (Roger G. Noll & Andrew Zimbalist, eds., 1997).
2. Public Subsidies
THE CASE AGAINST PUBLIC FINANCING OF SPORTS STADIUMS.doc
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