Like the title says:

Meet Three Billionaires Asking Taxpayers To Buy Them New Stadiums | ThinkProgress

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"Time's never wasted when you're wasted all the time"

Trickle down effect does wonders around the globe.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

I'm surprised ppl still watch that stuff.

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Jim

"Hey buddy, can you spare a stadium?"

Why the public has to buy the stadium and then pay to enter it is beyond me.

If you think like a billionaire you will figure it out.

The golden rule, he who has the gold rules.

Any politician who loots the treasury like that should get voted out.

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1969 280SE
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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.

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"Time's never wasted when you're wasted all the time"

What has a sports team done for other cities that have had them? The Raiders, for example have moved a time or two. The Browns are another group that come to mind. See what the place was before and see what it is after. Like any business proposition, weigh the risks and benefits. I'm not saying it will work out but it could. It could also flop to the ground.

And should the team collapse or walk away, would you want to own a piece of something that has limited use? I wouldn't. It could, not will, could become like a house that has been foreclosed. Now the bank owns it and has to do things to it before it sells. Talk about making a bad situation worse. You might end up having to sell it for $1 just to get the monkey off your back. Do you want the city to be another Detroit where they sell a house for $1 just so it is off their things to manage list?

Would the city want to get involved with ever more things? What has their deep pockets or not got to do with anything? Perhaps the Packers are a fine example and be community owned. Form your own team and take all the risks and be rewarded sometimes.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I would like to see someone quantify the benefits of the NfL as a whole, IMO if it were gone people would find another pastime.

Blastheme! (prolly not spelled right...what good is spell check if it only helps with the easy words?)

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

The team owners need the market as much as the market needs them - if not more. Yes, there is a risk that the team will pick up and leave. However, in a scenario where the public owns the stadium, they could subsidize the lease at even for $1 per year. However, the public gets all parking & concession revenue (net of any management fees), while the team pays a percentage of their profits back to an account specifically set up for maintaining the stadium. So if they're unprofitable, then they're only on the hook for $1.

Under the current system, the public builds the stadium, then essentially steps back and lets the team generate revenue from ticket sales, concession and parking. That makes no sense - it's like the public is taking on all the investor risk, while the team owner reaps the invester benefits. If the team is not profitable, they usually leave anyway.

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"Time's never wasted when you're wasted all the time"

Wish the entire NFL followed the example of Green Bay....
Green Bay Packers Prove That Public Ownership of Organizations is Economical
In fact, all sports teams....

The numbers are staggering: Over the last two decades, local municipalities have spent nearly $15 billion constructing or renovating stadiums for the NBA, NFL, and MLB. And despite owners’ claims to the contrary, there’s extensive research indicating that these stadiums do not boost economic growth.

The city of Charlotte spent $260 million on the Bobcats’ new stadium. The entire franchise is only worth $281 million. The Bobcats are essentially a public trust that Michael Jordan is being allowed to operate for his own personal gain.

In their 2011 lockouts, both the NBA and NFL owners were willing to cancel games, and deny cities the very product they paid billions for, unless the players accepted a share of salaries so low that the owners would be guaranteed annual cost certainty.

In pro sports, like the law, workers generate the majority of the revenue. A law firm is nothing more than a collection of individual partners who control “books of business” of individual clients. Similarly, if the NBA’s 50 best players played in Europe, the league’s TV ratings, and its revenue, would plummet.

The city of Charlotte spent $260 million on the Bobcats’ new stadium. The entire franchise is only worth $281 million. The Bobcats are essentially a public trust that Michael Jordan is being allowed to operate for his own personal gain.

In their 2011 lockouts, both the NBA and NFL owners were willing to cancel games, and deny cities the very product they paid billions for, unless the players accepted a share of salaries so low that the owners would be guaranteed annual cost certainty.

In pro sports, like the law, workers generate the majority of the revenue. A law firm is nothing more than a collection of individual partners who control “books of business” of individual clients. Similarly, if the NBA’s 50 best players played in Europe, the league’s TV ratings, and its revenue, would plummet.

In their 2011 lockouts, both the NBA and NFL owners were willing to cancel games, and deny cities the very product they paid billions for, unless the players accepted a share of salaries so low that the owners would be guaranteed annual cost certainty.

In pro sports, like the law, workers generate the majority of the revenue. A law firm is nothing more than a collection of individual partners who control “books of business” of individual clients. Similarly, if the NBA’s 50 best players played in Europe, the league’s TV ratings, and its revenue, would plummet.

The city of Charlotte spent $260 million on the Bobcats’ new stadium. The entire franchise is only worth $281 million. The Bobcats are essentially a public trust that Michael Jordan is being allowed to operate for his own personal gain.

In their 2011 lockouts, both the NBA and NFL owners were willing to cancel games, and deny cities the very product they paid billions for, unless the players accepted a share of salaries so low that the owners would be guaranteed annual cost certainty.

In pro sports, like the law, workers generate the majority of the revenue. A law firm is nothing more than a collection of individual partners who control “books of business” of individual clients. Similarly, if the NBA’s 50 best players played in Europe, the league’s TV ratings, and its revenue, would plummet.

Law firm partners typically receive 80% of the income the firm generates. But after the lockouts, the NFL players now receive around 48.5% of the income generated while the NBA players receive around 51%. The owners have guaranteed themselves all the extra profit while shirking the risk.

As a result of this imbalance between public risk and private profit, the entire system of professional sport ownership in America has become little more than an elaborate slush fund for some of the country’s wealthiest individuals.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
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