Chances are, your home teams play in arenas that were built in part with public resources.
There are the stadiums built with cash from the government, like the new Nationals ball park in Washington, D.C. And then there are places that got roads, rights of way, and other public goods for the stadium. Those deals were cut behind closed doors between team owners, leagues, and government officials. One question: did anyone ask YOU what you’d like to get out of that deal?
Team owners will tell you that the taxpayers got a great deal because the new businesses around the arena, for example, eventually pay more in taxes than the government paid in subsidies. Very often, that’s just not the case. In fact, in study after study across the political spectrum, publicly funded stadiums are a net loss for our communities. When taxpayers fund stadiums, owners win and we lose.
We start to get a little ticked off when ticket prices are announced. Your tax dollars went into building that stadium; your government helped to cut the deal; but you can’t afford good seats. Not nosebleeds, but some good seats.
OK, you say to yourself, I can’t afford good seats. I’ll just watch the game on TV at home. But the sports industry beat you to it. The NFL, for example, requires a “blackout” of games within a 75-mile radius of the stadium where tickets have not sold out. And this is backed up by federal regulations, enforced by the FCC, that prohibit cable or satellite from carrying a game if the local broadcaster has secured the rights. 47 C.F.R. 76.111, 76.127.
So let’s get this straight: First, your money and resources are used to build your home team’s new venue. Then, the tickets are priced too high for you to afford. Then, you want to watch the game on TV. But because you’re not alone and there are many fans who can’t afford tickets, the stadium doesn’t sell out. And that means, with the blessing of federal lawmakers, you’re not able to watch the game on TV.
Check out this article by SFC Board Member Dave Zirin in the LA Times about the efforts to build a new football stadium in LA, the public resources being pledged, and what it means (or won’t mean) for fans: www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-zirin29-2009oct29,0,5453451.story
Final score: sports industry wins, sports fans lose.
It is a travesty that our taxpayer dollars are used to fund these billionaires’ plans for bigger and better stadiums. In reality, it’s not bigger, nor better for us fans to foot the bill for a bunch of rich, white guys to sit around and appease their stadium envy. Enough is enough. That’s why I joined the SFC. Let’s do something about it.
We’re working on it. Getting a lot of interest in the LA stadium right now. Check out Dave Zirin’s article on that (link on home page). We’ll be posting some more info soon to give you more background on just how bad a deal these stadiums have been for fans and taxpayers. I was on sports talk radio yesterday and the host suggested letting Little League games play in publicly financed stadiums. Not a bad idea! –DG