12/21/24
February 27, 2004
Phoenix-area taxpayers have invested $700 million in new stadiums for their pro baseball, basketball, football, and hockey franchises, a world record for governmental sports support, as described by today's Washington Post. How much more would they have offered if any of these teams were good?
Yeah - I agree, it's ridiculous where we find our priorities. Plus I was under the impression that Phoenix was one of those 'never should have been' cities - a vast waste of resources and water so that the retirees can have there golf courses looking great. $700 million for sports arenas seems consistent with that thinking. Kee-rist we are a bunch of greedy people. Seriously ask yourself - if it meant that every kid in your state would have new school books each year and all it would cost would be the destruction of your favorite team - would you do it?
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:18 PM on February 29, 2004
But guys that money is not just a one-way flow. For instance the Mercury News had a decent article today on the turnaround in the Cactus League, including government expenditures of over $175M in the last decade, but that investment has brought in planeloads of tourists. The Giants preseason games have over 60% of the tickets bought by non-locals and the A's are over 50%. Lots of tourist money that wouldn't have come otherwise. Got to expect that the other facilities also drive decent revenue and would do even more if Bidwell would sell to an owner interested in building an actual pro football team.
posted by billsaysthis at 06:05 PM on February 29, 2004
Eh. I dunno. The "lookit all the tourist dollars" argument has never carried much weight with me -- probably because I lived for a number of years in the shadow of Fenway Park, one of the most beloved sports venues in the US, where you probably have the lowest percentage of empty seats in the Majors. People who go to the games certainly are under the impr ession that it brings tons of money to the neighborhood -- why wouldn't they be, when they spend a fair chunk of change on parking and meals and souvenirs and whatnot? But the parking lot kings don't live in the neighborhood, or even in the city. The owners of the restaurants, the souvenir stores, even the hot dog carts don't live there. Stadiums do not offer a good living to anyone in their vicinities, except for those who are the owners of tourist-oriented businesses, who don't live in the area or even in the city -- again, right down to the hot dog cart guys. For anyone else, the only thing a stadium has to offer is part-time, seasonal, low-skills, low-wage labor. In other words -- yes, the tourist money comes in. And then it goes right back out again. It doesn't stick. Mayors, city councils, and residents need to challenge these wonderful visions of cure-all tourist dollars, because they're nothing but pipe dreams.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:36 PM on March 01, 2004
Exactly, lil_brown_bat.
posted by dusted at 07:26 PM on March 01, 2004
There's a pretty substantial challenge to Jerry Jones's new proposal. And I'm 100% with the no jones tax folks.
posted by Ufez Jones at 08:07 PM on March 01, 2004
lil brown, what you say is true to a certain degree, but the people who work in the facilities get some of the money from jobs that wouldn't exist otherwise, paying income and sales taxes, and the state and municipal governments get other tax revenues directly. We're having a fight about something similar here in Santa Clara County just now.
posted by billsaysthis at 08:18 PM on March 01, 2004
I saw that article on the train this morning, and honestly, my first reaction was "all that freakin' money for sports arenas and stadiums! Damn this countries priorities are screwed." I think too many states/cities have swallowed the Field of Dreams "If you build it they will come" mantra. I wish someone would make a movie about how a guy sees the ghosts of past educators and builds the best damn school in a corn field. Then maybe cities and states would follow suit. As for a more palatable response: When will owners/taxpayers/etc realise that a shiny new stadium does not make a team better? It only makes the owners richer and his cronies get better seats. BTW, when is Ashburn Grove gonna be completed? ;)