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'How the NFL fleeces taxpayers'

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Nov 13, 2013.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure how cities make much money at all with the noon/1 p.m. start time. My wife and I went to a Bears game a couple of years ago that started at noon, and we to eat at dive diner we ducked into. There was literally nothing else open on Michigan Avenue or anywhere else near the lakefront. Soldier Field is kind of isolated over there anyway, separated from anything else by Lakeshore Drive.

    I suppose you could argue that bars and such do good business during the games on Sunday because non-ticket holders get out and spend their money there when they would otherwise be doing dishes and laundry at home.
     
  2. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    "Social value" is a subjective term, at best. What you consider valuable is not going to be what the next guy thinks is valuable. People who are gung ho to take from some people to benefit others in the interest of what they deem "social value," are corrupt at worst (usually the case) and misguided do-gooders who end up making us all worse off by funnelling resources to their pet projects that could have gone to enterprises driven by actual demand (what people would choose if they could just spend the money for themselves).
     
  3. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    Still, it's just eight days a year for an NFL team.
     
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I remember covering a game in Pittsburgh several years ago and at the hotel it seemed like every car was from Ohio or West Virginia and the hotels were packed with a two-night minimum. You're not going to see that as much with Chicago, SF and NY where the bulk of the people at the games live in the city.
     
  5. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    College football, obviously, has its own ethical conundrums. But there's no doubt that it brings a ton of out-of-town money in on game weekends, especially in mid-sized cities outside a metro area like South Bend and State College, with widespread fan bases that can't just drive in the morning of the game like I'm guessing a lot of SEC fans can.
     
  6. britwrit

    britwrit Well-Known Member


    At this point, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree. I do believe that social value is an incredibly flexible term but at some point, the elastic snaps.

    I do think football has social value. It's popular entertainment that brings joy to a lot of people. (It's also a weird form of performance art, full of abstract goals... Cross this line and get a fresh set of "downs"... Cross that other line, get "six points.") In that sense, isn't it worthy of government support? Much in the way tax-payer money (and much at the same level) goes to the local symphony orchestra?
     
  7. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Why does an industry that generates billions of dollars of profit need taxpayer support? Your final analogy is a new level of dumb.
     
  8. exmediahack

    exmediahack Well-Known Member

    Yes on your points here. A bunch depends on stadium location within the city. Minneapolis, St. Louis, Green Bay are all located within the confines of a downtown/neighborhood core where people can "make a day" of eating and drinking before (and after) the game near the stadium site. Kansas City is a parking lot. Chicago isn't in a neighborhood or downtown area so that's another step needed to got out (taxi or train).

    It's a trade-off. Perhaps you want the dollars from entertainment within a walking distance of the stadium. Yet the downside is that traffic becomes a cluster.
     
  9. Boom_70

    Boom_70 Well-Known Member

    How do you feel about Govt support of PBS and NPR?
     
  10. britwrit

    britwrit Well-Known Member

    Or the film industry? Or the health care sector? People are always going to pay for doctors. They should get one dollar more in tax-payer money?
     
  11. JC

    JC Well-Known Member

    Do you people really not see the difference between a billionaire owner and health care?
     
  12. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    I think they really don't.

    It is strange.
     
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