Four Reasons Taxpayers Should Never Subsidize Stadiums
Elected officials have been played by team owners and sports leagues.
Bloomberg, July 16, 2018
What is it about billionaires that they feel compelled to sup at the public trough? This comes up again and again with the public financing of sports stadiums.
As much as I’d like New York City to help my firm pay for our offices on Bryant Park, I am a capitalist, and prefer us to pay our own rent. Like other firms located in Manhattan, we also pay a 6 percent city tax on all of our rent over $250,000. If we have to, why don’t the Dolans — who own the Knicks and Rangers — or the Steinbrenners, owners of the Yankees, or the Doubledays, who own the Mets. Did we make an error not demanding a taxpayer subsidy before we moved in January?
To the billionaire owners I say this: Man up, you cowardly socialists! If you really were rich, you could afford to build your own stadiums.
Instead, you are the new welfare queens, begging for subsidies from ordinary tax-payers. I blame the leagues, who should be more circumspect than allowing mere one percenters who cannot afford to manage the teams to buy in on shaky terms. If you cannot afford to a build your own house to play in, then perhaps you cannot afford to own the teams.
Tech companies, even fast food firms, have illegally conspired to restrict competition with no poaching rules. If only America’s Mayors and Governors were half as clever.
See the full article, Four Reasons Taxpayers Should Never Subsidize Stadiums.
