The NFL - Welfare Queens?

[Delhommey]

 

“The NFL is good at fleecing taxpayers,” says ESPN columnist Gregg Easterbrook, author of The King of Sports: Football’s Impact on America. “It’s about a billion dollars a year I’ve calculated in public subsidies to NFL owners and this is a group that consists almost entirely of billionaires and yet receiving significant public subsidies every year.”

The NFL raked in over $9 billion in revenues last season and the league is pushing team owners to triple that mark over the next decade. 

With the league’s overwhelming success, many cities are eager to get a piece of the action, often offering billions in public subsidies to attract (or keep) football in their localities. 

But with the NFL making record profits, is it right for cities to spend public money on these type of projects? Especially when over half of NFL team owners are ranked on the Forbes billionaire list?

 

http://reason.com/reasontv/2014/01/31/why-no-smart-city-would-want-the-nfl

 

With schools crumbling and roads and bridges falling apart, is this really what we want to shovel our tax dollars into? And why should we in the first place, when they're making record profits?

[hepcat]

Because every government level in the USA is corrupt.  Follow the money and you have your answer why taxpayer dollars are going into NFL stadiums instead of schools and roads.

[Jase]

because football, take my money please

[Cary Kollins]

[Darth Biscuit]

I agree that we shouldn't be giving billionaires what amounts to welfare, but good luck talking to the politicians about it when all the billionaires have to do is threaten to move and magically money appears.

[Jangler]

[Peppers90 NC]

we know America's number one priority is the entertainment industry.

[SIGCHI222]

You can look forward to games being pay-for-view in the near future. 

[CatMan72]

I understand the sentiment, but you also have to look at the revenue NFL teams bring to the governments that are subsidizing them. In the case of the Panthers, the money they asked the city/state for doesn't even amount to what the players and coaches paid in income taxes last year and a study by USC showed the Panthers were responsible for 700 million in revenue per year to both the city and state. 

[Jangler]

You can look forward to games being pay-for-view in the near future. 

 

You think so? Look what it did to boxing.

[Delhommey]

I understand the sentiment, but you also have to look at the revenue NFL teams bring to the governments that are subsidizing them. In the case of the Panthers, the money they asked the city/state for doesn't even amount to what the players and coaches paid in income taxes last year and a study by USC showed the Panthers were responsible for 700 million in revenue per year to both the city and state. 

 

It's extremely well established Economics that sports teams and expensive stadiums are a sizable net loss for cities. You're basically spending a dollar to make 20 cents.

 

The Olympics are the worst, of course, but regular sports teams are bad too.

[thefuzz]

I don't believe in governments choosing winners and losers.

 

So, if I were on a town council or board, I would vote against tax incentives or "help" from local governments.

[L-TownCat]

You can look forward to games being pay-for-view in the near future.

Pretty sure they would have to give up their non-profit status to do that. I could be wrong though.

[Argus Plexus]

Schools and roads dont make profit.