'How the NFL fleeces taxpayers'

I don't disagree that the owners should pay for their own stadiums. But most of them don't, for one simple reason, they don't have to.

 

I highly recommend reading "Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums" if you think NFL teams bring in a shitload of money.

In every study done by a neutral party (as opposed to the teams and cities trying to win voter approval for such projects), there is no evidence of a positive economic impact for cities to spend public money on stadiums. In fact, in several cases the city loses money on the long run on the projects.

 

One is now run by the government.

 

Again, that's not universal at all. Green Bay is one good example. Another good example would be the Dallas Cowboys.

The 70,000 people who are dumb enough to pay good money to watch the Cowboys are not spending their Sundays in Arlington, Texas when the Cowboys aren't playing. So, no, that money wouldn't get spent there anyway.

 

The idea is that those 70,000 people, instead of going to Arlington for a football game, would still be looking to be entertained on Sundays, and find something else to do in their hometowns or elsewhere. They might go to a movie, or see a show, or go shopping somewhere, which would be helping businesses that didn't receive millions in taxpayer money.

 

And, to nitpick, the locals might not spend a dime in Arlington proper. The out-of-towners might not either if they stay in Dallas itself.

So the only way Arlington can be assured of getting revenue is from ticket and parking taxes.

 

Well, the NFL would shut you down through it's control of the venues and by pressuring the networks, then you would go to court, win your antitrust case and get $1 in damages trebled to $3. At least that's the way it worked for the USFL.

 

Yeah. I was just about to write something like that but not as concisely.

So I'd say it's de facto, rather than de jure. Sure, you can start up a league of your own. But not only do you have to come up with the tens of millions you need to attract the caliber of players found in the NFL, you're also facing another barrier in the form of the state-sponsored developmental league found at colleges throughout the country.

I'm not saying some billionaire couldn't dream up his own professional league. But government has certainly helped distort the free market here in favor of a cartel of 32 NFL owners.

 

That has nothing to do with the NFL. The AFL and later the USFL were free to dip into the college talent pool and did so with zeal.

Man, you're off base here.

 

I do admire him for taking up the "NFL deserves its subsidies" side of the debate.

 

Of course, the original point was that that money would be spent in the city where the stadium is, not where the fans live. But don't let pesky things like facts get in your way.

And fans aren't going to Arlington when their team isn't playing - and that applies to Rangers as well.