Argument Against Publicly Funding Sports Facilities
John Curley
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
39 Biel Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(908-625-5186)
Jcurley819@gmail.com
March 6, 2012
Mayor R.T. Rybak
350 South 5th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Re: Stop public funding for construction of stadiums for professional sports teams
Dear Mayor Rybak:
Recently it was announced that the city of Minneapolis agreed to a deal with the Minnesota Vikings, a franchise in the National Football League, to help fund the construction of a new stadium for the team to play in. While this will be deemed as great news by local fans of the team, I believe that using public tax revenues to fund the construction of this new stadium is a misuse of public funds and a poor demonstration of governmental policy. Research has shown that the use of public funds to finance new sporting facilities does not generate any revenue for the city appropriating the money and that the opportunity cost of not spending that money on other public programs or buildings can be detrimental to the financial stability of the communities and cities involved. (Lazere, pg.1) This research is also supported by esteemed civic finance scholar Robert Baade, who recently stated, “Findings indicate that public funding of sports, including funding of stadiums and sports arenas, is not a sound civic investment. Stadium subsidies and other sports subsidies benefit not the community as a whole, but rather team owners and professional athletes.” Due to the overwhelming wealth of evidence that shows the negative effects of public funding for sports facilities, I have developed a plan to force professional sports outlets to raise money through privatized funds so that money otherwise being pumped into building new sports facilities can instead be spent on projects that will provide a greater economic boost to the local economy and support more efficient governmental policy. As the main controller of the city budget, I hope you will support my conclusion on
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
39 Biel Road
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
(908-625-5186)
Jcurley819@gmail.com
March 6, 2012
Mayor R.T. Rybak
350 South 5th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Re: Stop public funding for construction of stadiums for professional sports teams
Dear Mayor Rybak:
Recently it was announced that the city of Minneapolis agreed to a deal with the Minnesota Vikings, a franchise in the National Football League, to help fund the construction of a new stadium for the team to play in. While this will be deemed as great news by local fans of the team, I believe that using public tax revenues to fund the construction of this new stadium is a misuse of public funds and a poor demonstration of governmental policy. Research has shown that the use of public funds to finance new sporting facilities does not generate any revenue for the city appropriating the money and that the opportunity cost of not spending that money on other public programs or buildings can be detrimental to the financial stability of the communities and cities involved. (Lazere, pg.1) This research is also supported by esteemed civic finance scholar Robert Baade, who recently stated, “Findings indicate that public funding of sports, including funding of stadiums and sports arenas, is not a sound civic investment. Stadium subsidies and other sports subsidies benefit not the community as a whole, but rather team owners and professional athletes.” Due to the overwhelming wealth of evidence that shows the negative effects of public funding for sports facilities, I have developed a plan to force professional sports outlets to raise money through privatized funds so that money otherwise being pumped into building new sports facilities can instead be spent on projects that will provide a greater economic boost to the local economy and support more efficient governmental policy. As the main controller of the city budget, I hope you will support my conclusion on