Lived in Cincinnati from 1992 'till 2009 so I was there during the run up to the stadium vote. The Cincinnati Enquirer and downtown big business all endorsed the stadium issue. Bogus studies, conducted by the University of Cincinnati & others, were all geared to show what a tremendous stimulus to the economy the stadiums would mean. 40 thousand new jobs would be created was one claim. Flashy brochures were distributed to every mailing address in Cincinnati extolling the virtues of funding and building the stadiums ... it would be a winner, no question. The cost estimated at $450 million (as I recall) would be easily covered by projected revenue increases and the half penny (a mere half penny we were told repeatedly) sales tax increase.
Well, as it turned out, the cost of the stadiums doubled, the city fathers reached over and grabbed their ankles for Mike Brown (owner of the Bengals) and the rest is history.
The supposed economic benefits of sports stadiums never come true. The things sit empty most of the year (357 days for football) and, yet, people still buy the lie that they're economic generators.
In addition to which, it's just stupid to place gargantuan buildings like stadiums on beautiful pieces of waterfront property. People don't think these things through.