To add to Cleveland Steam Whistle's post,
re 1) suggesting the household spending remains constant, completely ignores the fact that some people come in from out of town to see the event - spending money, going to restaurants and staying in hotels. Ask any hotellier if sporting events and concerts have an economic impact to them (and that would be entirely from out of town patrons by definition).
2) Only a tenured academic could make those claims with a straight face.
3) This is the big one. One must always ask: who is delivering the message? In a perfect world, an academic could discuss this issue in a fair and unbiased manner. However, this isn't a perfect world. The education system survives almost entirely on public funding. As a result, it is always going to feel underfunded. It is in a constant and perpetual struggle for increased funding. Exactly how would we expect academics to feel about spending public funds on sports?
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