So the Sixers announced today they’re privately funding a move from the sports complex up to Center City. This is particularly noteworthy as most Big 4 North American sports teams (e.g. NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL) coax taxpayer funding from either the municipality/state.
Most common arguments for:
1. Positive economic externalities of anchoring a commercial district on gamedays
2. Publicly financing a stadium gives more leverage in stopping relocations; for example, not only does the Buffalo Bills’ agreement for a new stadium keep them in Buffalo, but since Erie County/the state of NY are on the owner’s title they’re locked into their lease for 30 years. Whereas vertical integration means teams obviously have control over leaving.
Most common against:
1. In general, shouldering a considerable portion of the owners’ costs, by every sports’ league’s bylaws a sole proprietor billionaire (with the exception of the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Flyers), to enrich themselves at the expense of the taxpayer, creates a lot of moral hazards. Just look at how dirty Kroenke did St. Louis when they balked at renovating the Ed Jones Dome.
2. Creation of chokepoints on public infrastructure that wasn’t designed to handle capacity in these areas.
3. Resulting economic activity and gentrification ends up screwing over the renters due to higher property values. This is true regardless of funding source, but I’d like to think taxpayer money adds insult to injury.
4. Anecdotally from working in construction the allure of public funding leads to overages in the budget because they want to show they’ll need the money again down the road. If you’ve ever seen the movie Contact you know what I’m talking about.
Thoughts? Would you feel fine with your tax dollars going towards this?
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