Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinordi
Fact: a new arena Costa much much more than any incremental public benefits than it provides, it is not even close to net positive from the use of limited tax payer dollars
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Fact: There is no arts/culture public work that generates a net positive in cost, even those with user fees, so not realizing a profit on a sports facility is irrelevant. If there was, there would be private for-profit ventures like sports teams, and not the odd (typically subsidized and tax sheltered) private non-profit. But even sports teams are not a great investment, and massive capital expenditures require assistance from major beneficiaries to materialize without crippling debt (namely, the City and the Province/State).
Fact: Sports teams, Visiting Sports teams, Stadiums and Visiting Attendees generate a significant amount of tax revenue that would not otherwise be present or realizable in that market. The argument about losing local entertainment dollars isn't a particularly strong one (though there have been surveys where people in cities without pro franchises, or cities that lost their pro franchise claim to be more likely to travel elsewhere for sport or leisure then to spend the equivalent amount in their market. You can decide how reliable that is). I wrote a Sports Law paper on a very similar topic.
Fact: Cities can successfully use arenas/stadiums to attract people to specific areas (example: Downtown Detroit - Comerica Park and Ford Field as part of Downtown revitalization).
Question: Assuming NO private money (which isnt happening in any scenario except in the event of trying to replace a pro team), with a lifecycle of 30 years, and a cost of roughly $300 million per facility, is a sports facility worth its per year cost of $10 million per facility in region advertising and promotion, recreation/entertainment value and the potential (note, not a guarantee) for improved revenues?
I'd say yes, you'd say no. But I'd say there's an argument for each side. A cynical one being that more money than $10m/yr is wasted on less fruitful ventures.