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'How the NFL fleeces taxpayers'

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

  1. Huggy

    Huggy Well-Known Member

    The Bills sell thousands of tickets every week in southern Ontario and they also bring in loads of fans from places like Rochester and Syracuse.
     
  2. britwrit

    britwrit Well-Known Member

    No. I'm arguing that something that provides social value deserves some level of government support even if a number of people are taking away a freight train of cash from it.

    Because of tax payer money, the big museums here in London have free admission. At the same time, the global art market is absolutely booming. A triptych by Francis Beacon just sold for $142.4 million at auction in New York and while he won't see that money directly, he's now fabulously wealthy.

    So, because there are artists floating around today who are richer than God Himself, the British government should wind up the Arts Council, let the museums sink and swim on their own, and scrap arts education in schools? We should waste money supporting a system that produces multi-millionaires?

    You can argue that football produces no social value (or not nearly enough for state support.) I'd buy that as valid. But I think that sport provides enough enrichment that it should get some encouragement.
     
  3. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    Would the museums stay open if not for the government support? It sounds like not.

    Would the NFL continue to make money hand over fist without government support? Hell yes.

    Your argument continues to get weaker.
     
  4. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    And to add to my point: Free admission ad the education programs are a clear sign that the goal here is access for all.

    The NFL's ticket, concession and parking prices make it clear that they have no interest in being accessible to 90+ percent of taxpayers.
     
  5. amraeder

    amraeder Well-Known Member

    Haven't had a chance to read through the entire thread or article, though I will when I have a free second. So forgive me if this is d_b, but:
    The other thing that's worth noting - even money spent in a town b/c of football might have been spent in that town anyways, if football wasn't there. If there's no NFL team, I'll still likely spend some of the money I'd have spent on tickets/parking/concessions on other entertainment money. If the team left town, instead of going to a game I might go to a resteraunt or a comedy club or a play or a concert. It's not necessarily 1:1, but you can't count all revenue generated b/c of an NFL team as renvenue the city/city businesses wouldn't have gotten otherwise. People are still going to do something for entertainment.
     
  6. BitterYoungMatador2

    BitterYoungMatador2 Well-Known Member

    A lot of these owners are now getting deals that include the property around the stadium, so that owners can cash in on the bars and restaurants around the new stadiums. Do new stadiums bring in money to restaurants? Sure. Money that also goes to the NFL owners.

    Sorry, this is still a shit investment. A team worth $3 billion should be able to build its own fucking stadium. That said, so should Boeing and Microsoft.
     
  7. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    With the enormous government we have today, the NFL comes in about 953rd place as far as fleecing the taxpayers.
     
  8. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    You can't suddenly change your argument because you like football.

    For years, we have heard from you, YankeeFan and others here that it doesn't matter how small an agency is, how insignificant to the overall budget, their existences remain outrages. YF tells us all the time that cutting the small things will make it easier to cut the big things later.

    If that's applicable to the DOE, it's applicable to something you happen to enjoy.
     
  9. britwrit

    britwrit Well-Known Member

    Museums would stay open without government support but, like they had before, they'd charge admissions. They would also pay less for artwork, which would reduce an indirect art market subsidy. But while this would also hurt the millionaire artists and dealers (there'd be less of them, and their piles of money considerably smaller), it would hurt the general public more. No longer would their lives be so easily enriched by art.

    The NFL, on the other hand, would collapse in 20 years without government support. How much taxpayer money is spent each year on high school and college football programs, providing a fully trained workforce in a highly specialized field? The government tacitly makes sure that there's no competition from any other professional league by allowing for a monopoly and that, allows for keeping wages down. And having to actually pay taxes would finish them off.

    (Of course, I admit it. That absolutely weakens my argument. What social value is worth that much? I'm thinking more along the lines of NEA-level.)

    Finally, you don't have to go to a stadium to access the NFL. Flick on the TV and it's there. People enjoy watching live events on on the small screen as much as being there.
     
  10. LongTimeListener

    LongTimeListener Well-Known Member

    You're insane. Get out of this argument now.
     
  11. cranberry

    cranberry Well-Known Member

    Hey, $9 billion a year doesn't go as far as it used to.
     
  12. britwrit

    britwrit Well-Known Member

    Yeah, well. I guess having a business where I don't have to pay taxes, and has the government guarantee I face no competition (as well as generously help pay for the building I work out of) would make no difference at all.
     
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