Sports play a huge role in our society today. They also play a huge role in the entertainment business. As fans, we love huge stadiums built by professional teams and we marvel at their appearance. We don’t think about how they got there or what those expensive buildings provide other than entertainment. These stadiums may not benefit their cities like we think they should.
These stadiums are very, very expensive. They can cost upwards of a billion dollars. I have always wondered how these professional sports teams can afford to pay for this, because they don’t profit this much money on a yearly basis. Well, each stadium is paid for differently but there are a few things that remain the same. 2The tax payers of the cities that are building these stadiums pay portions of the costs. Portions that tax payers contribute may be more in one city compared to another, but the money the tax payers will pay may range from 300-500 million dollars. 2This increases the taxes of every tax payer in that city. Even if you don’t care about the sports franchise in your city you still pay for it.
1Some believe that the presence of a stadium will provide jobs. In a city of close to one million people, it would be hard to say that a business offering 500 to 700 jobs will help the community as a whole. 1These stadiums are not putting money back into their communities like they say they will.
I am the biggest sports fan you will ever meet and I go watch a game anytime I get a chance to, but these stadiums may not be all they are cracked up to be. This is something to think about next time you go to a game.
References
1Collins, T. (2007). Unequal Impacts of Downtown Redevelopment: The Case of Stadium Building in Phoenix, Arizona. Journal of Poverty, 11(1), 23-54.
2Skaggs, T. (2013, July 3). Publicly financed stadiums: Economic boost or financial drain? American City & County Exclusive Insight, p. 2. Retrieved January 25, 2015, from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=545e105e-d7be-43ad-98c6-3f7854deebc6@sessionmgr4005&hid=4105&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ==#db=a9h&AN=9778033
No comments:
Post a Comment