John Oliver on Publicly Funded Stadiums

[AuH20]

Couldn't agree with him more.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=000&v=xcwJt4bcnXs

[Zippyjuan]

They are trying to get one built here in San Diego. Or the team may move. (Threats!) NFL stadiums bring pride and status but economically, they are not good investments. If they were, team owners would build them with their own money like Dallas did. More visitors? More hotel rooms filled? More taxes collected? A football stadium only gets used perhaps 15 times a year. That is 15 days (30 if they stay the weekend) to try and collect the "extra tax revenues" to pay for them.

A developer purchased the local paper for the main purpose of pushing a new stadium. Every issue had pro- new stadium articles. Surprisingly, he sold the paper before any stadium was approved (still not approved but negotiations supposedly taking place).

[AuH20]

They are trying to get one built here in San Diego. Or the team may move. (Threats!) NFL stadiums bring pride and status but economically, they are not good investments. If they were, team owners would build them with their own money like Dallas did. More visitors? More hotel rooms filled? More taxes collected? A football stadium only gets used perhaps 15 times a year. That is 15 days (30 if they stay the weekend) to try and collect the "extra tax revenues" to pay for them.

A developer purchased the local paper for the main purpose of pushing a new stadium. Every issue had pro- new stadium articles. Surprisingly, he sold the paper before any stadium was approved (still not approved but negotiations supposedly taking place).

Think about the bonds that a city must take out and the financing that is strung out for x amount of years. These municipalities are already over-leveraged to begin with and must borrow the funds. It's a total scam.

[Zippyjuan]

I enjoy football but if they want a new stadium, let the league and teams pay for it. The league nets about $10 billion a year. That money could build ten new stadiums a year. http://deadspin.com/5821386/audited-financials-operating-profit-for-nfl-ventures-lp-rose-from-999-million-to-13-billion-last-year Or build a new one every year- rotating teams and cities- and keep $9 billion.

[dannno]

A developer purchased the local paper for the main purpose of pushing a new stadium. Every issue had pro- new stadium articles. Surprisingly, he sold the paper before any stadium was approved (still not approved but negotiations supposedly taking place).

The Union Tribune?

My local paper here got totally run into the ground by a special interest developer and professional gold digger..

A lot of people turned to our local progressive weekly/online "Reader" style outlet for news.

[specsaregood]

Hey, Mr. Swann got a cameo @12:23

[AuH20]

Like I stated earlier, the debt lives on far after the facilities are destroyed..............

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/sports/08stadium.html?_r=0


It’s the gift that keeps on taking. The old Giants Stadium, demolished to make way for New Meadowlands Stadium, still carries about $110 million in debt, or nearly $13 for every New Jersey resident, even though it is now a parking lot.

The financial hole was dug over decades by politicians who passed along the cost of building and fixing the stadium, and it is getting deeper. With the razing of the old stadium and the Giantsand the Jets moving into their splashy new home next door, a big source of revenue to pay down the debt has shriveled.

New Jerseyans are hardly alone in paying for stadiums that no longer exist. Residents of Seattle’s King County owe more than $80 million for the Kingdome, which was razed in 2000. The story has been similar in Indianapolis and Philadelphia. In Houston, Kansas City, Mo., Memphis and Pittsburgh, residents are paying for stadiums and arenas that were abandoned by the teams they were built for.

Local officials keep kicking the can out further and further...............

[aGameOfThrones]

Serfs need them....


“Two things only the people anxiously desire — bread and circuses.”

[Zippyjuan]

The Union Tribune?

My local paper here got totally run into the ground by a special interest developer and professional gold digger..

A lot of people turned to our local progressive weekly/online "Reader" style outlet for news.

Yep. Owner of the LA Times bought it in May. Now most articles are anti-stadium. Besides a stadium, the developer- owner also wanted to push for expanding the downtown Convention Center (which hosted ComiCon last weekend).

[juleswin]

Like I stated earlier, the debt lives on far after the facilities are destroyed..............

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/sports/08stadium.html?_r=0



Local officials keep kicking the can out further and further...............


How is that possible? I thought state govt. had to balance their budgets every year.

[Zippyjuan]

The debt is in bonds. Budgeting for a given year only includes the principal and interest due that year.

San Diego's stadium is one of the oldest NFL stadiums (We need a new one! they cry) at about 50 years old. The city still owes almost $5 million (plus interest) over the next ten years to pay for the last round of renovations (20 years ago- 30 year bonds).