All the Wrong Moves - Tempe shouldn't pay for Sun Devil Stadium makeover
By Goldwater Institute: Noah Clarke (09/28/06)
It’s stadium mania in Arizona. The announcement of the name of new (taxpayer-funded) Cardinals stadium--University of Phoenix Stadium--is all talk radio can cover. Not to be left out of the melee, ASU wants Tempe officials to consider chipping in to upgrade Sun Devil Stadium.
The familiar idea is that football games bring in tourist dollars and promote economic growth. But, using tax dollars to finance stadiums never lives up to expectations. In their book Sports, Jobs, & Taxes, professors Roger G. Noll and Andrew Zimbalist review subsidized sports facilities from Baltimore to San Francisco. Their findings should stop Tempe cold.
First, stadiums do not attract tourists. Second, consumer spending at the stadium comes at the expense of spending in other leisure pursuits, like eating out or attending movies. Finally, due to the high cost of collecting taxes, public financing costs at least 25 percent more than advertised. Were Tempe to subsidize a stadium upgrade of $50 million, taxpayers would end up paying closer to $62.5 million- -before inflation.
This project just isn’t something taxpayers should pay for. City officials should make the right move and say no to tax dollars for Sun Devil Stadium.
Noah Clarke is an economist with the Goldwater Institute Center for Economic Prosperity.
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/article.php?/1130.html
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