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  • GamingDoneProperly GDP
    Reply

    I remember during my time on the debate team at my school we spent a month on stadium subsidies. It was clear to everyone that they were ridiculous, the stadiums were ridiculous, the whole thing was unnecessary. No one who ever argued for them ever actually won their debates, so it's surprising that our government can't seem to realize that they're not putting any of their money or power to good use. If a room of about 20-30 high school students can see a problem this glaring, and yet somehow the people who run our country can't see it, then it's time we exercised our constitutional right to tear it down and rebuild it. The US "government" is a disgrace not only to it's own people, but to the very document they claim to be built on. I say all of this as a lifetime citizen of the USA. No hating here because I'm not American, but pointing out why being an American has its few ups, and its many, many downs, the lack of proper leadership being just one of the many things wrong with this country.

  • GhettoMist
    Reply

    Now I don't give a fuck about other teams but I don't get why the Yankees built a new Stadium the old one was perfectly fine with all the history that happened there. Utterly idiotic.

  • TheStockwell
    Reply

    For the longest time, the San Francisco Giants tried to pull this crap. The local government actually stood up to them and said "We'll give you the land, but the club's owners are insanely rich. Build your own damn luxury ballpark." The owners actually had the nerve to get a bonding proposition put on a ballot so, on election day, the people, who they assumed to be saps, would approve paying for the new stadium. The price tag was over a third of a billion dollars.

    On election day, the people voted it down.

    The owners didn't take the hint. They put various forms of the bonding proposition on the ballot during the next election with the same sort of phony-baloney tactics and propaganda this John Oliver report shows. The hyper-rich owner got shot down – again.

    They took the issue to the ballot box two MORE times after that. By the fourth time, the voters had a clear idea of how these rich owners and investors could easily pay for their own ballpark – they just wanted the fans, people who work for a living, to foot the bill.

    It was like George Lucas, saying "I'll make more 'Star Wars' films because I believe in The Force so much. I'll need half a billion dollars. Give it to me and remember: you still have to pay to see the films when they come out – because they're mine."

    In the end, the wealthy owners had no choice; they built their own damn luxury ballpark.

  • Lesley Wilson
    Reply

    Use of Taxpayer Money for Pro-Sports Arenas Draws Fresh Scrutiny

    For decades, cities and states have wooed sports teams through hefty subsidies for new arenas and stadiums, sums that have grown along with the facilities’ price tags—despite the howls of economists who deem them a poor use of public money.

    Research on the issue has piled up during the past two decades. The general conclusion: A city’s economy doesn’t get a bump from bringing in a new sports team or building a stadium—and scarce economic-development dollars could be put to better use with other investments.

    “You’re not going to get income growth; you’re not going to get tax growth; you’re not going to get employment growth,” said Dennis Coates, an economist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County who studies the economic effects of professional sports teams and facilities.

    A 2007 study in the Journal of Sports Economics examined cities that gained professional teams. It found adding a team did “not have a positive economic impact on the local community” and didn’t raise regional incomes.

    Ref: http://www.wsj.com/articles/use-of-taxpayer-money-for-pro-sports-arenas-draws-fresh-scrutiny-1425856677

  • Robert H
    Reply

    When Jessie Ventura was Governor of Minnesota, the Vikingsowner had a meeting withthe governor. The owner asked for$12 million in public funds toupgrade his stadium. The owner was asked, how many tickets do you sell in a season, the reply,1 million. Jessie them told him to raise each ticket by $12, and there is your$12 millions dollars, the Governor alsoadded, "I, and my wife, don't give a rats ass about your team, we are here for the people ofMinnesota, not the Vikings franchise, now get out of my office". That drew the line in the sand. (these are in his own words from an interview with LarryKing)

  • Jack Hume
    Reply

    "Disrespectful and childish"? wanting to have more money for schools, emergency services, and hospitals is childish? gods I fucking hate sports.

  • llllllllll
    Reply

    Jesus fucking christ. American politicians are pathetic. And the world is going more and more in that direction.

  • Anil Nair
    Reply

    This is actualy a worldwide phenomenon, remember World cup football stadiums and olympic stadium are virtually unused after they are built.

  • Alex Grossman
    Reply

    Cities spend massive amounts of public money on privately-owned stadiums. Cities issue tax-exempt municipal bonds that — wait, don’t fall asleep!