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Originally Posted by aklim
Nothing about buying a stadium but there is more drama when you put it that way.
I guess the question is whether the public benefits from the stadium even being there. If you can't see the benefit, pass on the deal and let someone else "buy" them a stadium. If you do benefit, don't expect to have a free ride. You might be asked to buy gas once in a while. I don't know about you but I have seen college football game day in Madison, for instance. A lot of people are out spending money including out of town people so I don't know if it is fair to say "I can't see any financial benefit".
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Clearly there is a benefit to the public from having a sports team. However, the question then should be how do we quantify this benefit?
To simply say that a community benefits is not enough. Particularly when the stadium is NOT considered public property. If these folks want a stadium built by the public, well and good. But in that scenario, the public should own the stadium and the team can lease it - even if it is a subsidized lease.
Any excess revenue generated from parking, concession stands etc, should be remitted back to the public coffers and not into the already deep pockets of these team owners, while ticket revenue goes to the team ownership.