*Do* cities lose revenue from these teams moving? Many of these stadiums come with large property tax breaks, so building a stadium may be a net negative for a city’s property tax budget. And the idea that they are bringing people out to a particular neighborhood (and thus their dollars to local establishments) strikes me as, at best, marginal—most of that revenue is captured in the stadium, right? And those who catch it in a bar nearby might as well catch it at any bar.
As we will inevitably be asked to consider public subsidies to rebuild these stadiums damaged by climate change fueled natural disasters, if we want to subsidize billionaire baubles, that’s fine—the benefits in a sense of community may be real! But let’s not pretend there’s an economic, instead of a social, justification for these teams getting incentives to move or stay.
*Do* cities lose revenue from these teams moving? Many of these stadiums come with large property tax breaks, so building a stadium may be a net negative for a city’s property tax budget. And the idea that they are bringing people out to a particular neighborhood (and thus their dollars to local establishments) strikes me as, at best, marginal—most of that revenue is captured in the stadium, right? And those who catch it in a bar nearby might as well catch it at any bar.
As we will inevitably be asked to consider public subsidies to rebuild these stadiums damaged by climate change fueled natural disasters, if we want to subsidize billionaire baubles, that’s fine—the benefits in a sense of community may be real! But let’s not pretend there’s an economic, instead of a social, justification for these teams getting incentives to move or stay.