Schools not Stadiums

[KurtNYC]

Local polticians jump over each other to build sports stadiums with taxpayer money. And they always argue that they will generate revenue and tourist dollars for the city (even when they are replacing a 7 year old stadium with a new one). Of course it is not true and now there is more data to back that up:

Economists disagree with each other about almost everything. It should tell us something that every economist who has studied stadiums agrees that they don't generate economic growth. It should tell us something when a Stanford economist says, "opening a branch of Macy's" has more economic impact on San Francisco than the San Francisco Giants do. It should tell us something that in study after study, cities with stadiums do no better, in terms of jobs or growth or image, than cities without them.

We're in a battle to keep a stadium or two off our taxpaying tab right now in NYC. The article addresses some of that math too.

Economic development is about creating jobs. The Jets say their new stadium will create 7000—a figure that is almost certainly too high. The city and state plan to give the stadium $600 million. Between cost overruns and debt, that estimate could well be too low.

Assume both numbers are correct: That puts the subsidy at around $86,000 per job. Many of the jobs will be in low-wage service positions (vending, security, ticket-taking), many won't be full-time, and many won't have benefits. This isn't adding up to a wise use of taxpayer dollars. It might be more efficient to find 7000 people and give them $86,000 apiece, then use the land for something else.

http://www.nypress.com/18/7/pagetwo/newshole7.cfm

With the IOC coming to town next Monday, our allegedly cash-strapped mass transit system is printing thousands of new maps which show a stadium on the westside which is far from a done deal. They spent big bucks to perpetuate a lie just in time for the IOC's visit. Where does the insanity end?

[bleedingheart]

1. Use Pittsburgh as your reason to build schools!!

We built two stadiums, one for baseball the other for football...yet the children in the city go to schools in need of repair or replacement and no one wants to live in the city because the schools are a poor based on the taxes paid.

[bleedingheart]

4. did I mention how deeply in debt Pittsburgh is and how the schools

still need more money...but wait...the Steelers have a nice stadium...so that should pacify the masses.

[Lindacooks]

2. Same with Minnesota.

That idiot Pawlenty wants to open a state sponsored casino to pay for new stadiums for the Twins and hapless Vikings. Meanwhile, our schools are suffering, laying off teachers, running huge deficits, and the infamous 'No Child Left Behind' program is underfunded by ONE BILLION dollars.

I am so sick of these playgrounds for millionaires. And the fact that so many new stadiums have been built in the last 20 years while 40 and 50 year old schools are rotting is insane.

[shoelace414]

3. have any stadiums been denied yet?

[bleedingheart]

5. none that I know of....

in fact in Pittsburgh the voters said NO (the issue was on the ballot) to new stadiums and then the morons in power said..."well we have Plan B...so we will build them anyways with taxpayer subsidies"....

[shoelace414]

9. In Milwaukee

Miller Park added .5% sales tax because "It's very small"

funny that being taxed to death didn't come up during the argument. now we have a 500 million dollar TGI Fridays

[Ezlivin]

6. They tried in Arlington, Texas to deny the Cowboys a new stadium

But the "pro" folks dumped millions of dollars into the campaign and recruited present and former Cowboy players to talk up what a good deal it was for the community.

Although the local newspaper tried to pretend that it was offering both sides of the argument, it was clear that the pro-stadium folks received the lion's share of press.

For more see http://www.dallasarena.com/t041028.htm

[KurtNYC]

8. At least they should

require the stadiums to be dual use.

How about this -- the sky boxes double as classrooms! Why not. The building is empty except for 8 Sundays per year. And the school would have some great PE gear.

[SaveElmer]

7. Sorry I disagree

Stadiums do provide enormous benefit if they are built in the correct place and in a town that can support the teams they are meant to accommodate. Of course, economists agree on nothing and those generally commenting on these projects have an axe to grind, or are hired by advocates on one side or the other.

In cities such as Baltimore they have been very successfull at revitalizing a run down area of town. It isn't just factoring in jobs directly related to the stadium but the ancillary jobs at businesses that benefit from a robust sports franchise.

Additionally, saying these are publically funded is disingenious in many cases. While every stadium has different funding mechanisms, most generally rely heavily on revenue that would not be there were it not for the fact that the stadiums had been built. (taxes on tickets, merchandise, players salaries etc, stadium rent).

In addition, these localities are not just handing money to team owners...they are guaranteeing interest payments on bonds sold for construction. With a competent payment plan, very little government revenue is actually at risk.

The anti-stadium forces have been very good at framing the debate as public vs. private...which is not true. Stadiums are merely the most visible of these type of government investment. Cities and states provide these kinds of guarantee to many private businesses wishing to relocate. In DC for example Fannie Mae was given a city property tax exemption to relocate here.

There are good arguments against a stadium funded in this manner, most importantly the risk of high interest payments on Bonds for a poorly planned stadium project. But there are significant potential rewards as well.

[Stephanie]

10. Have you ever looked into how much money G. Bush made off his stadium?

I don't have the links handy but if you google bush and texas rangers and tom hicks the whole sordid story is there. they had the city comdemn people's private property, bought it for a cheap price, used public money to build the stadium and then pocketed HUGE amounts of cash.