Subsidization of sports

In the spring of 1994, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors approved a quarter percentage point increase in the county sales tax to pay for their portion of the stadium funding. This came about at a time that the county itself was facing huge budget deficits and lack of funding for other services. The sales tax being levied was very unpopular with local citizens, who were not allowed to vote on the issue of funding a baseball stadium with general sales tax revenue (usage of public subsidies for stadium projects was actually prohibited by a 1989 referendum). The issue was so controversial and divisive that in August 1997, Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was shot and injured while leaving a county board meeting by Larry Naman, a homeless man, who attempted to argue in court that her support for the tax justified his attack. In May 1998, Naman was found guilty of attempted first-degree murder.

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Masterhawk said:

By now, it's no secret that Americans are obsessed with sports. Many of these games are played is massive stadiums. There's no doubt that construction jobs are created to build them but they're temporary. Here's a section from the wikipedia page on the funding of the Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona:


Now maybe not every case is as controversial or ill timed as the Chase stadium but if you look at the beginnings of other stadiums, at least in North America, you will find that a large number were built by the city governments at the expense of the taxpayers.

In North America, these stadiums are often subsidized by local governments because the number of teams is few, putting cities at their mercy. In Europe and Latin America, there are more teams and as a result, stadiums are privately built.

Another related thing is the olympics. As with sports stadiums in North America, these are largely subsidized by the government. The problem is that once the olympics are over, the sports venues often go unused.

Check out before and after for the Rio Olympics complex just 6 months after the olympics were over:

https://www.boredpanda.com/rio-olympic-venues-after-six-months/

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TTB said:

I put down Other as my reply, because I do think subsidizing sports programs in school can help more children learn about teamwork and camaraderie. Just as I think that activities like Band, AV, Stage or JROTC and the like are often valuable for kids growing up.

As for taxpayers funding a sport's stadium, I would prefer that it be done through something like the sales of lottery tickets if the state is going to be involved. That way the folks that choose to subsidize the project have the choice.

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Masterhawk said:

By now, it's no secret that Americans are obsessed with sports. Many of these games are played is massive stadiums. There's no doubt that construction jobs are created to build them but they're temporary. Here's a section from the wikipedia page on the funding of the Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona:


Now maybe not every case is as controversial or ill timed as the Chase stadium but if you look at the beginnings of other stadiums, at least in North America, you will find that a large number were built by the city governments at the expense of the taxpayers.

In North America, these stadiums are often subsidized by local governments because the number of teams is few, putting cities at their mercy. In Europe and Latin America, there are more teams and as a result, stadiums are privately built.

Another related thing is the olympics. As with sports stadiums in North America, these are largely subsidized by the government. The problem is that once the olympics are over, the sports venues often go unused.

Check out before and after for the Rio Olympics complex just 6 months after the olympics were over:

https://www.boredpanda.com/rio-olympic-venues-after-six-months/

Click to expand...

Masterhawk said:

By now, it's no secret that Americans are obsessed with sports. Many of these games are played is massive stadiums. There's no doubt that construction jobs are created to build them but they're temporary. Here's a section from the wikipedia page on the funding of the Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona:


Now maybe not every case is as controversial or ill timed as the Chase stadium but if you look at the beginnings of other stadiums, at least in North America, you will find that a large number were built by the city governments at the expense of the taxpayers.

In North America, these stadiums are often subsidized by local governments because the number of teams is few, putting cities at their mercy. In Europe and Latin America, there are more teams and as a result, stadiums are privately built.

Another related thing is the olympics. As with sports stadiums in North America, these are largely subsidized by the government. The problem is that once the olympics are over, the sports venues often go unused.

Check out before and after for the Rio Olympics complex just 6 months after the olympics were over:

https://www.boredpanda.com/rio-olympic-venues-after-six-months/

Click to expand...