Falcons owner wants new stadium to replace decrepit Georgia Dome

IJAG and TSP might kill you. Watch out now.

 

Not to be picky, but the Orlando Falcons would be Florida's <i>fourth</i> team. We haven't given Jacksonville to Georgia, at least not yet.

Not one dime of taxpayer money should go to a stadium. Ever. Infrastructure, fine. But the stadium itself should be the owner's responsbility.

 

Da man:

I should have worded that differently. What I meant was that it's an easier sell to locals than a direct municipal tax. It definitely affects locals, but its a lot easier to sell a tourist tax to locals than an increased sales tax.

 

If IJAG fucks with me I'll just post that Brook Jacoby baseball card and she'll swear herself into a coma then forget all about what I posted when she wakes up.

Back on topic

While it's true that any economist who has half a brain can tell you that most stadium deals don't boost the local economy, a city like Arlington would probably reap some sort of benefit.

I'll agree that the people who fill Jerry's new palace are spending money they would spend on something else were it not for the Cowboys. But were it not for that stadium most of that money wouldn't be spent it in Arlington because Arlington is a shithole with an amusement park. So the city is probably going to derive some sort of benefit from this project.

 

Tahoe

 

I don't think anyone said no tax breaks (I know I didn't). As noted earlier, governments give tax breaks to private companies all the time in order to entice them to build a new facility in a town or county or whatever. But the town or county doesn't pay to build the facility for them. And I'd argue that giving a tax break to an auto manufacturer to open a new plant is a lot easier to defend than giving one to an NFL owner because the auto plant will create far more jobs than the NFL team. Especially if, as in the Cowboys' case, the team's headquarters will remain in another town.

Oh, yeah, and none of those examples you mentioned are in business to make a profit. A pro sports team very definitely is.

 

Arlington wouldn't benefit as much as you think. It already get publicity from having its name out there as host of Ameriquest Field The Ballpark at Arlington.

 

Stay on the Nevada side, prostitution is illegal in California

 

And Six Flags, of course. And neither of those prevented the city from a large budget deficit that forced cuts in services around the time the Cowboys project was placed on the ballot.

The thing that really holds down Arlington's benefit is that any impact the stadium has is regional rather than local. Assuming the stadium gets a Super Bowl (which is likely) and assuming the Super Bowl really does create this gigantic positive economic compact (which, according to economists, is highly debatable), where does the money get spent? Well, a large number of people will stay near the airport or in Dallas or Fort Worth. They'll eat at Joe T. Garcia's in Fort Worth and hit Sundance Square, or they'll go to nightclubs and bars in Dallas' West End or Deep Ellum or Lower Greenville. They'll see shows at Bass Hall (FW) or Billy Bob's Texas (FW) or the Smirnoff Music Centre (Dallas). What percentage of the spending stays in Arlington? 25 percent? 10 percent? And yet, the public portion of the stadium funding (Jerry is paying for half, although even that's misleading -- and fodder for another post) all comes from Arlington taxpayers.

I'd even argue that the intangible impact of publicity for the city is way overrated in this case, because fans will say that their team is playing ``at Dallas'' or even ``in Dallas,'' not in Arlington. And when the Super Bowl comes, you can bet 99 percent of people will say the SB is bring held ``in Dallas'' rather than in Arlington. That's in part becase of the name of the team, but just because that's how people are. Most people didn't say Super Bowl XXX was in Tempe and SB XXVII was in Pasadena. They said Phoenix and L.A.

Something as big as a stadium, if it is paid for by the public at all (and I'm not for that) should at least be paid for regionally (like the Colts new stadium) or even statewide, because that's where the impact goes, not to any one city.

 

Oh, I'll make you come back here alright.

Addressing your points:

Point 2: Can the state of Alabama create a commission to manage the Hyundai plant and attract other manufacturers to use the plant during Hyundai's down time? No. However, a commission can oversee an arena/stadium/dome, market it to conventions and concert promoters and attract other events for dates when the facility is not booked.

Point 5: You'd be surprised how much "tourist taxes" on rental cars and hotel rooms affect local people. Ever been in an accident? If so, did you have to rent a car? Had a business professor tell me that most car rentals aren't from visitors, but from local residents.

 

Ding, ding, ding. Thanks for beating me to the punch.

Jerry Richardson didn't go after the city of Charlotte, hold a city hostage, acquire votes of the deceased (does anyone still think Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. wasn't one of the biggest pieces of sh_t ever in the NFL?) or do a bidding war. Granted, some fans who want season tickets had to pay out the nose for them. But they get first-class treatment without widening the omnipresent caste system already in place.

On a side note, Vick might not like the beginning of this season if it isn't better than the end of the last one.

 

What's all the gnashing of teeth about?

It'll end up coming to a vote in the state legislature and the voters will have the final say. If it gets voted in by the politicos and the voters didn't want it, they'll vote the politicos out of office.

Either that, or do what Green Bay did and put it to a straight referendum. More voted for it than against it.

The bottom line is there's nothing morally wrong with asking.

And the last thing we need is another law to ban sports owners from asking. Geez, what's next?