12/18/24
September 07, 2012
In Stadium Building Spree, U.S. Taxpayers Lose $4 Billion: Quantifying what has long been a sore point on SpoFi. Includes a nice contrast between Jerry Jones' public palazzo and the even more expensive but privately financed new stadium in the Meadowlands.
posted by billsaysthis to culture at 12:26 PM - 6 comments
Thanks so much for posting this. It's the kind of thing that's right in my personal money and sports wheelhouse. I have to go through it and digest it with some measure of moderation so as not to allow the blood to boil over on a Friday night and create excess agitation.
In my opinion, there is a strong correlation between the captains of the financial services sector being allowed to run rampant with no wholesale public outcry and the willingness of sporting fandom to accept a landscape that includes obscene player contracts and outrageous stadium funding deals without a significantly measurable level of resistance.
The chumping of the populace by professional sports is just the set up that confirms the plausibility of grander schemes for the masters of the universe.
posted by beaverboard at 09:57 PM on September 07, 2012
the willingness of sporting fandom to accept a landscape that includes obscene player contracts and outrageous stadium funding deals
Lumping these two things together is slightly disingenuous. Player contracts are essentially an internal matter -- if you don't think Peyton Manning is worth $96 million over five years, you can show your objection by not buying tickets or merchandise, and if enough other people do that, eventually it will damage the Broncos' brand (I'm not saying fans actually do this, but they at least have the option). On the other hand, if you don't think the new Mile High Stadium is worth $400 million, well, too damn bad, because if you live in Denver, you're on the hook for $300 million of that, and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it, even if you don't have any interaction with football.
posted by Etrigan at 10:10 PM on September 07, 2012
If You Build It, They Might Not Come: The Risky Economics of Sports Stadiums
posted by tommybiden at 10:57 PM on September 07, 2012
the willingness of sporting fandom to accept a landscape that includes obscene player contracts and outrageous stadium funding deals
Linking those together is like connecting the cost of popcorn and movie budgets.
posted by grum@work at 01:00 AM on September 08, 2012
In my opinion, there is a strong correlation between the captains of the financial services sector being allowed to run rampant with no wholesale public outcry and the willingness of sporting fandom to accept a landscape that includes obscene player contracts and outrageous stadium funding deals without a significantly measurable level of resistance.
Yes, it's called the tl;dr reaction. It's been working for a couple of centuries at least.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 08:49 PM on September 09, 2012
You gotta love massive transfers of wealth to rich people. What a racket!