More important to who?
I can't understand how conservatives buy into this 'stadiums-for-the-public-good' crap. Bread and circuses.
Because life with the NFL,MLB,NHL and NBA is better than life without for a large segments of the population; the taxpaying part. If that isn't a public good, what is? It's not like publicly owned stadiums for sports teams is some kind of new concept. Many cities and states across the nation have rich histories and traditions tied to their professional teams, nearly all of which have played for their entire history in publicly financed stadiums and arenas.
If you don’t like sports, good for you. I don’t like hanging out in city parks. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t exist. It's all about the most benefit to the most people. A large majority of the public enjoys pro sports to some degree, even if its once a year at their neighbor’s Super Bowl party. Stadiums that keep teams in the black and in town are indeed a public good. Very few people are affected if the local bolt factory leaves town. 75% of men and perhaps half of all women are very negatively affected if an NFL team moves away to some other city willing to pay the price.
More important to EVERYONE--what you spend money on as a city comes out of my pocket and everyone else's.
Because life with the NFL,MLB,NHL and NBA is better than life without for a large segments of the population; the taxpaying part. If that isn't a public good, what is? It's not like publicly owned stadiums for sports teams is some kind of new concept. Many cities and states across the nation have rich histories and traditions tied to their professional teams, nearly all of which have played for their entire history in publicly financed stadiums and arenas.
Defining widely a public good results in public dollars being used for private moneymaking. These stadiums are rarely moneymakers for cities. Your arguments of 'rich traditions' and 'history' and how this is 'not a new concept' boil down to the fact that you want money taken from some people and given to others. You just happen to like it this time.
If you don’t like sports, good for you. I don’t like hanging out in city parks. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t exist. It's all about the most benefit to the most people. A large majority of the public enjoys pro sports to some degree, even if its once a year at their neighbor’s Super Bowl party. Stadiums that keep teams in the black and in town are indeed a public good. Very few people are affected if the local bolt factory leaves town. 75% of men and perhaps half of all women are very negatively affected if an NFL team moves away to some other city willing to pay the price.
I do like sports. Nonetheless, I happen to think you're far overexaggerating to say 75% of men would be 'very negatively affected,' and even if they are, when is caring for the fragile psyche of the populace supposed to be the job of local government? I thought that people wanted water and power and sewer and cops and schools and fire protections and roads and parks. I don't remember anyone saying the standard function of cities is to make sure guys feel good on Saturday. If that's now a function of government, I'm gonna hit the Chicken Ranch and bill my hometown right now!
If your entire argument is 'I like sports, this is for something I like,' 'it's been done before, a lot,' and 'people like sports,' well, gosh, I guess we better do it. People in San Francisco like bathhouses. They've been there a long time. They've been built before. So have city pools. Gays think maybe they should build them on the public dollar. We'll just check it by your logic...and...yep, free bathhouses on the public dollar!
As usual, people trying to do 'good' refuse to recognize that when everyone gets everyone else to do 'good' with other people's money, pretty soon that billion dollar stadium and million-a-week in unemployment and billion-a-month in AFDC start adding up. "Oh, it's just a little bit. It'll pay for itself over time." Sure, but in the meantime, it comes out of everyone's pockets in the form of property, sales, gas, and whatever other taxes locals can dream up.
You should be ashamed for taking that money out of the hands of people that might really need it for THEMSELVES, just so you feel better about your chances of watching some ball. And it is so you FEEL better, because hey, the team could still just up and leave even if your city does pony up a bunch. It's happened in Baltimore. Happened in Cleveland. Happened in LA.
Great conservative thinking there, Roosevelt.
Well, then, let them pay for it -- privately finance the stadium, and charge enough for tickets to pay back the loan.