The Sports Stadium Scam | Robert Reich
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2023
- Billionaires have found one more way to fleece the public: sports stadiums.
And if we don’t play ball, they’ll take our favorite teams away.
This kind of billionaire hardball is why State Farm Stadium, home of this year's Super Bowl, was built in the first place.
What adds insult to injury with taxpayers being forced to pay for stadiums, is that those same taxpayers have to pay to enter the stadiums that they were forced to pay for.
Exactly 💯
Um, yeah he covered that in the video
In the immortal words of Al Swearengen (America's greatest pimp): "Do not repeat back to me, what I just said in different fuckin' words!"
It appears that once you use public money for the stadiums, the ownership of such stadiums SHOULD be a public entity.
Lol! Try getting that passed in congress, but I agree.
Give the taxpayers an opportunity to own shares in these sports teams and get a piece of those outrageous concessions charged for mediocre food, merchandise, etc. Oh wait, those darn billionaires own these private money making entities outright! Sorry folks. What was I thinking!
Give the taxpayers an opportunity to own shares in these sports teams and get a piece of those outrageous concessions charged for mediocre food, merchandise, etc. Oh wait, those darn billionaires own these private money making entities outright! Sorry folks. What was I thinking!
The public does own it. But they get no revenue from it. The teams don't want ownership because then they have the tax and maintenance costs.
@@Bob_H Well, if the metric used to determin "ownership" is who has to pick up the tab... Then we all must be living in a communist utopia already, considering the trillions we spend each year on subsidizing and bailing out the people who, for some miraculous reason, keep failing upwards!
This has been going on for decades. When the taxpayers funding these stadiums can't even afford tickets to events there... I believe that's a good example of irony. This has to stop. Thank you, Mr. Reich, for bringing up this issue.
Its literally medieval fuedalism. Here, lets give the peasants a show of sport but theyre paying for the pleasure
Tax payers, by and large, don't own sports teams, it's a hobby for the rich.
You're paying even if you don't go to games. If you go that's paying twice. I have become turned off by professional sports. I hardly watch it much anymore. Prefer College sports but even that is getting corporate influence. The NCAA is starting to mean need cash advances always.
@@mrvlsmrv the NCAA survived for decades on cheap labor.
@@TheSjuris maybe even thrived.
I live in Seattle, and there was once a meme I saw posted on a bus stop:
$1 billion for a new stadium:
*Spongebob pulls out his wallet*
$150 million for a comprehensive public transportation system:
*Spongebob recoils in disgust*
How very true.
It's because the stadium keeps the population pacified. Bread and games!
Do people really believe sports stadiums benefit the general public? Or is it only passion for their teams?
I remember John Oliver did a piece on this very thing years ago on LWT. Thank you for what you do Dr. Reich.
I had a whole lesson in college about how stadiums and large sports events (like the Olympics and championship games) actually hurt a city's economic growth, even though the organizations purport otherwise.
Few people are concerned with this. Because the working class are too busy and too exhausted doing the real work that is the foundation of everything.
Anyone really believe that this will corrected ?
We are slightly more than slaves, be working for Black Rock and many other private investor groups, that have no callouses on their hands, no painful back injuries, no anything that could give the working class political power and access to investments that could fund retirement .
Working people seem to be burdened, always the group that gets screwed …… fuck, I can’t stand this. bull shit any longer.
People getting thousand of $ for doing stupid shit stuffed with RUclips …..
Social media has screwed all of us.
I was living in Arizona when that stadium was being built. I didn't agree with it at all. We were all paying for it, yet only people with money could actually afford to enjoy it.
That was how it was with the Redskins back in the 80s and 90s when JKC was pushing the District government to pay for his pet project by making totally exaggerated claims about how it would benefit our city and its residents. I don't know what it's like now, but back then you couldn't even get into a game unless you were rich enough to afford season tickets or got lucky and had someone give or sell you a ticket they couldn't use. There was pretty much zero benefit to the residents of the District of Columbia from the Redskins remaining there other than team pride. Well, guess what? That still remains even with the team across the Anacostia River and Landover, MD.
Thank you, Robert
Reich, for exposing yet another corporate financial scam!
@@hughdismuke4703 True, but that doesn't excuse the extremely wealthy people (should I say men?) who own sports teams from trying to bilk ordinary citizens by essentially blackmailing them if they want to keep their team.
@@bethwright8595 One day one city is going to default, like Brazil did when they built numerous stadiums for the Olympics that then weren't used and fell into disrepair. This will eventually happen in America. It will be interesting to see which community is smart enough to finally say "NO!" and let their sports team go. They will be the truly smart people realizing they're sacrificing education, mass transportation, public hospitals for.....a sports team. In a list of priorities is seems so clear, until you meet a cheering deadhead who wants that team and will screw everyone else for it. That's who these billionaires are counting on and they are in no short supply.
And there is always another idiot around the corner willing to move a team to their city. Probably the best thing they could to help a city that has an existing team.
Cities need to step up and turn down these team owners. Just like how some countries are now turning down the Olympics. It's just costing too much. That's why we've been having so many Olympics in China recently. China thinks it a good investment. Let them spend the money.
@@Rhaspun On the Olympics, why does a city have to be the host? Brazil had the events all over the country. When Tokyo had it last, they did the marathon in Hokkaido. Many countries have existing facilities, if they could just spread out places.
And the Olympics can be big boost. When Barcelona held it boosted their tourism even until today as media did stories about sites around the city.
I'm a business graduate and really wish more people would start addressing these types of loopholes. Thank you Robert for shining a light on these corruptible elements.
Absolutely
Robert missed the dropping of the other shoe. Professional sports wasn't happy just preventing the average person from attending the games at the stadium. I remember when they tore down the affordable Shea stadium that critics said that Joe 6 pack would be priced out of the new stadium and Mets management said that was exactly their plan. The second shoe to drop was taking the ball games off of network television. Most of us did not notice the impact of this because the price to watch sports became part of our basic cable package, resulting in doubling of our cable bill. Customers were not given the option of opting out of professional sports coverage. This was not really clear to me until I cancelled my $200 basic cable plan and went WIFI only. That when I learned that just to watch the Mets would cost me $75 a month. If I also wanted to watch the Yankees that would be additional $75 a month. Not only can the average citizen not afford to watch professional sports at the stadium, he can no longer afford to watch it on television.
If they want a new stadium, they should build it themselves... obviously they have the money.
Yet ANOTHER example of corporate welfare.
Who's railing against that?
Yet, cut social safety nets?
And cities should reap a "location percentage benefit," not subsidize the things! Cities willing to host professional teams need to see REAL and SIGNIFICANT monetary benefit. Not the "we'll bring lots of excitement to your town" baloney!
They have money because they make the tax payer pay for it.
The billionaires are against handouts except when it's for themselves.
This all started when the Baltimore Colts literally left in the middle of the night because the city and state refused to give them a free stadium.
The Texas Rangers and Dallas Cowboys built a new entertainment center when their *latest* stadiums were built, including a complex called Texas Live.
I bought a bottle of Coke at Texas Live one day and the receipt included a 1% “facilities use” tax - simply for buying the drink inside Texas Live.
This is spot on, we shouldn't have to subsidize stadiums for ultra wealthy billionaires.
That's total BS really that's where my tax dollar money is going to and I can't f****** eat
and I'm sure you'd agree that ultra wealthy billionaires have the right to go to cities that will.
You should just give it all up.
Tell that to Kathy Hochul in NY
@@Bodega180 What does she have to do with it? I'm just asking.
Back when I lived in the District of Columbia, I was so proud of my city's government for finally saying NO to Jack Kent Cooke, who was trying to ripoff D.C. taxpayers for a ton of money to either renovate or rebuild RFK stadium when he could damn well afford to pay for it himself the owner of things like the LA Lakers and the Chrysler Building in Manhattan for just a start. Lots of people were really pissed at city officials when JKC packed up his marbles and moved the team to suburban Maryland. I was glad because at least we didn't let him get away again with ripping off District taxpayers like when he blocked off a public alley and turned it into a private driveway, and eventually was granted legal ownership even after other residents of the neighborhood complained. No one should have the power to confiscate public property without permission and without paying for it. I'm glad the city didn't let him rip us off again with the new RFK Stadium which he was pushing DC residents to pay for. Screw that!
Lol. Sorry to chuckle at your misfortune, but bemoaning another rip-off in the rip-off capital of the world?
And if he had gotten me away w it, DC residents aren't able to afford to go to a game! Its crazy
Back in 2008, my parents treated themselves, me, my spouse, and our son to a Panthers game when the Broncos came to town. Five tickets cost us nearly $400.00 by themselves. We spent money on gas there and back, $20.00 for parking (cheap!!), $30.00 for lunch for three (inflated since it was so close to the stadium), about $20.00 for two foam fingers, and about $40.00 for a hot dog, a few burgers, and stadium cup sodas. We haven't been to see any major league teams since then, because we just can't afford it. And then you get into how expensive apparel and other memorabilia is these days. Jerseys typically start around $130.00, caps are $30.00-$40.00, t-shirts are anywhere from $20.00-$40.00, hoodies are $40.00-$85.00, and on and on. And, if you root for an out-of-market team, you can expect to shell out Eben more money for a team package.
Expecting me and the other Grabowski's to foot the bill for a plush stadium that we cannot afford to attend all while the owners who are of means get to reap all the rewards is BS. It's going to continue until we stop cheering for these teams and stop buying their merchandise. It's why the Raiders fans in Oakland and Chargers fans in San Diego told the Davis's and Spanos's, "Piss off. Move the team. I don't care anymore. I am SO done with you." And it's why the A's can't get anyone to show up for their home games anymore. And it's why the people in St. Louis have no further interest in yet another NFL team. You want to threaten to leave unless I agree to raise my taxes all to build a newer stadium even less affordable than the current overpriced venue? I am going to tell you to pound sand. This garbage is going to continue until we the fans finally revolt and tell the owners to pony up their own money for their team's stadium.
And all that money to watch a bunch of millionaires run around on a field
Fans are too fanatic to revolt.
Love your post but still left wondering about the large foam finger to wave around...much less paying for one😊
@@rickobryan I wanted a Broncos finger, but my son insisted on getting a Panthers one.
They've priced me as a family man right out of the market..I can't afford to take my kids, and as far as even watching the games at home with any "sports package?" Forget it!
Having lived and worked in Glendale, I can tell you that State Farm Stadium has not benefited the people of Glendale. Next door at Gila River Arena, the AZ Coyotes NHL team used rent delinquency as a negotiating tactic to get a different Phoenix suburb (Tempe) to offer up a brand new multimillion arena/entertainment district on the glitzy shores of Tempe Town Lake, pending referendum approval. Glendale's downtown has only gotten more blighted since construction, not even hosting Super Bowl events. The municipal sales tax has been maxed out to pay for the stadium subsidies, prompting commercial development to choose other lower tax suburbs. Even renters pay for the stadium bc rent has sales tax applied. The city lacks money to hire basic numbers of first responders, so other cities pitch in for security and medical coverage on game days, which number far fewer than the ones where the colossal stadium sits empty and idle. There was a plan to extend light rail to Glendale, but the city council voted to abandon their contribution bc they were unwilling/unable to simultaneously fund bus and rail service.
Shame to see so more regressive taxation placed on the working and middle classes. Oh and then the corporate welfare! So bass ackwards.
@@dudeonbike800 That's just the economic side, lol. They close off the 101 freeway with a police escort every time a major league team comes/goes, and that's the freeway I'd commute on. There's some talk rn of repealing the sales tax on rent, but it's the inflated housing prices that prompted me to leave. Unless you absolutely love the heat (like the 55+ crowd), it's really hard to say that it's worth paying so much just to spend spring/summer/fall huddled inside under AC until dark when it might be cool enough to go outside (assuming you have that privilege)
"...rent has sales tax applied..."
Wow, WOW!
Robert Reich is telling you the truth. For more in-depth information on professional sports, milking the taxpayers read f”Free Lunch!”David Cay Johnston. It made me to Quit Watching Professional Sports, all of them!! 11:30 am 2-12-23 4:41 4:41
I remember the video of the woman in a Coyotes jersey screaming at the city council that they better cave in and give the team whatever they wanted. She's currently complaining about the pothole she just hit that was never filled in.
I’ve been b**ching about this for years. Thank you for calling this crap out!
Appreciate Professor Reich's ability to break down economic issues in brief video format. I think one other important example of physical infrastructure to mention is HIGH SPEED INTERNET ACCESS, in addition to MASS TRANSIT, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, and PUBLIC HOSPITALS & SCHOOLS (not only did California's Madera County lose 700 good paying jobs when its only acute care hospital recently closed, that population is now at least a 30-minute drive away from the closest hospital with an emergency room).
I'd much, much, much rather have great public transit and s****y sports teams - or NO teams - or a publicly owned team like the Packers (the only NFL team about which I give a rat's derriere) - than fabulous stadiums and great teams but s****y mass transit!
I also super-appreciate the professor's hard work and tireless efforts to educate us. The problem is that it shouldn't br necessary. It seems obvious to me that this is just nonsense that we have to subsidize zillionaires. Why can't others understand this?
The only winners, are billionaires... Wow! That applies to so much in the good old USA. Bless you Professor. Thanks!
San Diego did the smart thing when the Chargers tried to pull this. You'll move the team? Schools need funding; don't let the door hit you on the way out.
And the Chargers ended up moving to LA, where they're not nearly as loved as they were in San Diego. The NFL could have afforded to build the Chargers a new stadium in San Diego, but they wanted a second team in LA more than a team in San Diego, sadly- a team that had been located in San Diego since 1961. So the fans in San Diego got screwed as a result.
@@dolbra4 If more cities held firm against team owners like San Diego did, then the billionaires and the league would have to stop bilking cities of funds that are needed to run hospitals and schools.
@@bweresquirrel8279 there will always be demand for an NFL team. but if San Diego decided not to have one, then that's fine. LA is more than happy to host them.
@@bweresquirrel8279 exactly. Ideally the 30 biggest cities need to get together and form a pact to say they won't offer public subsidies for any new major sports facilities.
This way when an owner threatens to move a team the city can say "oh ya? Where are you gonna go? Nobody else is going to give you that money either."
Spanos is a tool. Sd offered him public money to build but he still moved. Now he has a franchise no it’s cares about and pays rent to play “home” games.
This is called "corporate welfare"...
So true. If the billionaires want a new stadium for the teams they own THEY need to pay for it!!.
Hold it, conservatives have long said that only blacks mooch off of welfare, what gives?
Another symptom of the Koch brothers' business principles.
@@lynnjudd9036Same with the overpaid players!
John Oliver did a special on this topic a couple years ago as well and it truly is ridiculous how the owners are not made to invest in upkeep or upgrades of their own companies but rather blackmail the cities and tax payers to do it for them.
We must also realize how public schools are used as the recruitment ladders for players for these teams. Young people are pitted against each other and against the young people from adjacent towns bashing their brains out on the gridiron of a so-called public school system.
The same people that say, "government does not work" aid the wealthy at the expense of the general welfare. Any other actions would be country of their core beliefs.
Bill Maher once said "people know they are being screwed, they just don't know who is screwing them".
Ignorance is alive and well.
The same people that say, "government does not work" make it a point to work for govt and ensure govt does not work.
@@mrsatire9475 But shouldn’t it still be up to the people who want the government to work to have plans in place to make it work? A goal is a wish with a plan.
Besides, the electoral system means that these people may only have 2-4 years to put their plans into place before an opposing government is elected.
The world needs more Robert Reichs.
Yes, and this info needs to be on TV so it can get to more people. I suspect that won't happen because the people who run things are all a part of the monied elite.
THIS. HAS. TO. CHANGE!
Oh yes, we could use as many as could possibly be here. He is just, well, good. And that kinda makes him stick out doesn't it? Agree totally, we could use way way more Robert Reichs.
Reich is a Communist.
I like Robert but his middle name is third
he didnt care when the Rockies did this shit in the 90's i wish he cared but he pretends to care like all capitalist swine
Being a former employee of my local county government for 29 years I saw this first hand. We had 2 MLB teams spring training facilities in our county. The short story is all the spring training teams in Florida add about 1% in tax revenue during the historically busiest tourist season and they are only there about 8 weeks. The county built one team a new stadium about 10 years ago to keep the team from moving left the local city government which built the original stadium still on the hook with a $20,000,000.00 mortgage.
I have said the exact same thing and feel the same way, what a monopoly & what a disservice to taxpayers and their communities!
As someone who cares nothing about any “sports” My tax dollars should not be used for something I want nothing to do with.
and you should vote for local government representatives that also share that value.
I'm so with you.
I don't have kids can my taxes not go to funding schools.
@@jokerz7936 I’m sure if you drew up a plan they could put an exemption for non-birthers. Maybe even a clause that would benefit the adoption of local children to good homes that want to adopt. You would prob need to get what ever major sporting association that was involved in a stadium to help with the project. They make so much money from the events that some of that money should go right back into the community. Instead of them getting a free checkbook to rake all the money in for themselves and not improve the area around them. I think you might be on to something…
If everyone funded only that which they approve of, society would collapse.
Been saying this for years, since Indy built their mega stadium when the old one was still not payed for, rolling it over like an auto loan scam
Just look at Pittsburgh and Seattle. Both finally paid off their "old" Stadiums (Three River s and the Kingdome) years after they were demolished.
I’m so proud to be part of the group that helped push the Spanos family out of San Diego. No regrets.
This makes me proud to be a Packer fan. We voluntarily buy no par, no vote stock to fund our team, not a penalty to taxpayers who aren't fans or do not benefit.
The Packers stock thing is pretty much a scam to sucker fans, but I at least acknowledge its basically a fundraiser for the team. But it’s not like they are going to subsidize a stadium anytime soon…
Greed destroys everything.
Well said!! Short and simple. 😊
There are already rumblings that the new owners of the Broncos (Walmart family) are going to want a new stadium sooner rather than later. The current Mile High stadium opened in 2001. It's not even 25 years old. 🙄
That's the new thing.... A team gets a new owner, the owner wants a new stadium.... So WHAT the stadium is 25 years old (think the old Georgia Dome in Atlanta)- give me a new stadium or I'll move to St.Louis! LOL!
@@Saintnix69 They want all the current bells and whistles.
That's so sad. The Walton family is one of the richest, and they want taxpayers to pay for it.
@whatever google Well they get by since all those tickets were sold, no matter that there are that many no-shows.
@whatever google Well, that wouldn't really bother me much because I primarily for the Chiefs.
Jacksonville is currently going through this. I'm so tired of this scam when we're overcrowded with no traffic solutions.
Big time college sports is just as Nefarious, albeit on a slightly smaller scale.
I live in CT, our state university, UCONN, is actually a great school & research center (as a civil engineer working for the CTDOT, I partnered with their research arm on several cutting edge endeavors), but their leadership's behavior when it comes to big time sports is right up there in taking instructions from the Rich Uncle Pennybags playbook.
They convinced the State to build them a new basketball arena back in the 1990's, which did pay off with 4 national championships for the men, & too many to count for the women.
Then in the early 2000's they then strong armed the state into building one of the WORST state funded projects ever conceived - "Rentschler Field at Pratt & Whitney" - it is neither on campus, nor in an urban center (Hartford), nor anywhere near any sort of public transportation, but built on a former airport at the defense contractor's main factory complex (don't you think that should have been reserved in case we need more DEFENSE CONTRACTING?!?!?!? Hellooooo!!!!!!! Russia!!!! Chyna!!!!!!). Naturally, surrounded by a sea of asphalt parking lots. In which the Prudes who run most of New England don't allow tailgating. & for which the UCONN football team has continued to SUCK DONKEY BALLS for decades. We did get The Rolling Stones once, & Bruce Springsteen twice. Then the NIMBY's & BANANA's (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything) wealthy adjacent towns complained about the noise - NO MORE CONCERTS!!!!! So this Edifice to Waste sits there empty the other 340 days of the year (no, the local soccer league did not want to play there as, duh!, it's remote from the city & there's no public transportation).
I don't even want to know what the Big Time Sports Welfare looks like in places where college football is Worshipped, like GA & AL & MS. I'm sure the locals are PROUD AS PIGS BEING LED TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE to fully fund their hero's.
Just another reason why I'm not a huge fan of any professional sports teams.
I remember when Red McCombs did that scam in San Antonio to get a new stadium for the Spurs.
Yes, I lived there at that time, and I couldn't believe that he got it! It's an abuse of the procurement process, public funds, and a form of blackmail in my opinion. (ianal)
This needs to be played during half time of the Super Bowl 🏈! I am by no means a football fan and never have been.
This really started in earnest with the Baltimore Colts. The city and state refused to give them money for a stadium, and they literally moved to Indianapolis in the middle of the night. Ever since then, people have been so spooked about a move that far too many municipalities give in for fear of relocation. European soccer stadiums are paid for entirely by the team, and they do just fine. What's really frustrating is that, as long as this is decided on the local level, if someone gives in, that ruins it for everyone else.
Thanks for this. It's helpful as when we hear this on the news, a voice in our heads will remind us of the truth behind it.
John Oliver also did a great job covering this subject.
It has been shown that disposable income is limited when people spend on sporting events the less money spent on other things. No benefit to society ...money isn't created out of thin air.
I have lots of comments:
1) having watched the Raiders repeatedly fleece the city of Oakland, then LA, then Oakland and now Las Vegas, leaving each city with a pile of debt and a rotting stadium, I am amazed at the public's gullibility;
2) Oakland is now about to enrich the Oakland Athletics owner by funding a huge stadium, AND privately owned housing projects on both the coliseum site and around a new stadium site, that takes valuable port resources out of production. The new site is remote from BART and all other public transportation, which will be an issue that I am sure the team will expect Oakland and Alameda County to solve. Oakland never learns;
3) I had a ringside seat when the Buffalo Bills negotiated a stadium in the 1970's. Two Erie County legislators (Pordum and Ludera) were convicted of bribery (and went to prison) for choosing remote East Aurora over the Transit Road site. Nonetheless after their prison terms they were BOTH re-elected. Stadiums are ripe opportunities for corruption. I hear that Buffalo and Erie County have built the Bill's yet another new stadium at taxpayers expense. Yuch!
4) the name "49'ers" is associated with San Francisco. Now that the football team is in Santa Clara, shouldn't they be the Santa Clara Techies or Silicons? Or if they want a name associated with the founding of Santa Clara, how about the Santa Clara Friars or Apricot Farmers?
And then you have the owner of the Raiders who has a bad haircut.
I'm hopeful that middle and lower class Americans will soon come to understand that the pain, anxiety, and stress they endure by the hands of corporate and government greed can be changed if we all agree to stand together and demand dignity from the capitalists.
Very unlikely unfortunately! Billionaires and they’re politicians do what ever pads they’re bank accounts, especially Republicans!
Good luck with that. Thomas Frank revealed this topsy-turvy phenomenon of getting working class folks to vote against their very own economic interests in "What's the Matter with Kansas" almost 20 years ago. The very state that gave birth to the labor union!
And today? It's far, FAR WORSE! He needs to revise his work and re-title it as, "What's the Matter with the United States" as this phenomenon is coast to coast.
The problem is, many right-wing sales pitches sell themselves. And the biggest? "Who wants MORE money?" And economically stressed population ALWAYS needs more money. That's where we are right now (see the Rand Study). So when the right floats a tax cut initiative, it's almost already won! Of COURSE Americans will cut taxes when they promise "more money in their bank accounts."
But the reality is the opposite. Remember the 2017 corporate tax cut? Ha, ha, you've been duped again!
Reagan's promises of "prosperity through tax cuts" were bald-faced lies. Too bad Americans keep falling for these false promises time and time again.
Let's be clear on who that government is mainly. Republicans. And let's be clear on who represents the super rich. Republicans. As a matter of fact it is the super rich who have taken over our government.
Never they are to disconnected from how this country runs
@@jakemf1 If people would start reading newspapers again they'd be more aware of what's happening around them, but instead they rely on trash tv news starting with Fox!
By the way, this is also done in college sports, except that they do it through increases in tuition, which is why college is so damned expensive these days, even if you have no interest in sports, and are there for an actual education. Maybe there should be a law that colleges fund their sports teams through something other than tuition?
Actually, that isn't necessarily true. UC Berkeley funds 30 sports and without football revenue, they'd have to cut back a LOT of sports that get virtually no revenue at all. Title IX complicates the issue as well. But college sports is profiting dearly on "amateur" athletes, and everyone pretends they're "student athletes," which is a farce.
The true travesty is that our (formerly) "public" colleges & universities get VERY LITTLE public monies. The UC system gets 10% or less of its annual budget from the State of CA. That's simply WRONG. But football has nothing to do with budget shortfalls for private schools.
Coaches, administrators and the entire food chain is enjoying a HUGE gravy train at the expense of unpaid athletes putting their physical well-being (CTE) and futures at risk for no pay.
NIL is addressing the issue, but it's rife with problems. College athletes should get paid for their sacrifices, concurrent with admin & coaching salary caps across the board. Stop the profiteering off of "amateur" sports!
It's one economic problem with colleges. Another issue with hiked tuition is that greedy people saw the government loan system meant to support the right for people to get an education and went "if people can get more money to pay us, let's raise the cost of admission." A misallocation of funds is one problem that can take a lot of shapes at colleges and universities, but student loan debt is practically universal to them.
YES, how about ticket revenue? If fans are not willing to support the team, then let it go. But the reason for continuing sports programs at colleges is the fear that alumni fans will stop contributing if sports are discontinued. However, it has been shown that the net result is that college sports teams almost never pay for themselves, let alone contribute to supporting the institution.
@@jstephens2758 yes, "college sports teams" on average don't contribute. But again, Title IX plays a big role. But I support the funding of women's college sports so they're on par with men's. Budget cutting mania only buys into the right-wing agenda. Cut public institutions to the bone so they fail. What next? Close the libraries?
A well-rounded liberal arts education entails more than just books & lectures. College sports have been an integral part of the college landscape for a long time. Sure, the excess can be pared down. But falling for the "cut college sports" only buys into the "slash public budgets" hype that's killing our schools. We need MORE funding to support our schools, academically, culturally, and athletically.
And with American obesity continuing to rise, kids need MORE exposure to sports, not less. I sure wish my college cycling team got more support. Heck, we only won western regionals and got second place at nationals!!!
@@dudeonbike800 I agree that college sport participation as part of a "well rounded" curriculum is valuable. However, they can be intramural and not part of an expensive public enterprise. Title IX sports teams are not funded like intercollegiate men's teams. It is true that sometimes revenue from the intercollegiate teams supports them. But there have been studies that show the overall revenue from big sports programs is often a drain on college budgets rather than a contributor to them.
As someone who couldn't care less about sports and has never set foot inside a stadium, I believe I am owed a tax refund.
Yep. And you should get that refund...but you'll have to commit tax fraud to do it. I wholly encourage ALL Americans to cheat as much as possible on their taxes. We never voted for any of this. There is NO such thing as "tax fraud"...except that perpetrated by the govt on We The People.
You just don't understand how important it is for grown men to move a pigskin up and down a lawn.
I've never understood the concept; "Hey give me your money to build my thing, then I'm going to charge you to come and visit my thing".
Thankfully, Seattle bucked this trend by forcing the owner's group of the Kraken to pay for the retrofit of Key Arena (rebranded Climate Pledge Arena) with private investment. $0 dollars of public money was funded for it. Now, ONLY the people patronizing the Kraken and/or Climate Pledge Arena (the users) are paying that back. THAT is how it's done.
That's great, but if not for taxpayer subsidies, we wouldn't have any professional sports here in small-market Indianapolis.
Back in 1974, we opened Market Square Arena for the Indiana Pacers of the ABA. They had won three ABA championships at their previous home.
Then, the ABA and NBA merged in 1976. The Pacers had to pay $3.2 million to join the NBA.
By 1977, the Pacers were in financial ruin. They couldn't even get a bank loan. That's when Coach Bobby "Slick" Leonard organized a telethon to save the franchise. They had to convert 8,000 seats into $2 million. And they did. But that was how perilous it was.
The current owner, Herb Simon of Simon Malls, loses money every year on the franchise (for the past 40 years) despite some generous taxpayer support. He only owns the team because he wants the city to have an NBA team. His late brother Mel Simon co-owned the team from 1983 until his death.
We built the Pacers another new arena in 1999, which is now called Gainbridge Fieldhouse. It's still in use and has been renovated quite a bit.
So, it's easy for a big market like Seattle to force a deal like that, but we in Indianapolis don't have that kind of leverage.
And you should see the sweetheart deal Jim Irsay got for the Colts with Lucas Oil Stadium. He hinted about moving the team to Los Angeles, and we should know that is not an idle threat since his dad moved the Colts here from Baltimore in 1984 because we had a shiny new dome with luxury boxes waiting for him.
@@danieldougan269 oh well? Sounds like a straw man argument: Billionaire can't afford stadium so (s)he wants everybody else to pay for it or "thou shall not have sports!!". L. O. L.
Same thing is happening with the Arizona Coyotes at the moment. Glendale gave them the boot so now they’re playing in Tempe, using ASUs new hockey facility while trying to get the tax payers to fund a new arena for their awful team.
Tempe still has a chance to defeat the referendum authorizing the new arena / entertainment district. Unfortunately there will be a deluge of campaign spending to convince taxpayers, so unless the local community organizes and educates themselves, ASU will soon have a new major in hockey management next to the already existing one in golf management.
I’m a coyotes fan but I have a feeling the referendum will fail. The Yotes still want the public to pay for the infrastructure improvements to make the site viable for a stadium. I can’t see people voting to increase prices in this economy. And to be perfectly honest, most people could care less for the coyotes.
3:05 hit hard. A depressing realization about the state of our nation.
When we value sports more than science and education, when professors are renting rooms and subsisting on beans and rice while football coaches are wallowing in C-notes, when just about every U.S. university would rather produce a Heisman Trophy winner than five Nobel laureates - it's hard to love this country.
Sports is just one part of it. Wealthy people are the real problem. They are the one's who crashed the economy in 29. FDR took it all away from them and they have been fighting hard to take it all back starting with Reagan. Now they are in control of chaos once again.
@@freyathewanderer6359 You do realize it's the football paying the bills at the schools, right?
I was P.O. when renting a vehicle at SeaTac and saw a fee/tax contributing to a new stadium. I went to the Kingdome once, it still wasn't paid for at the time the new stadium was being built. I suspect I will never get to a newer stadium I helped pay for.
Thanks Robert. Finally, someone talking turkey about the rich turkeys that continue to pluck the feathers of us average birds.
Reminds me of casinos... great for economic growth, say the owners. Meanwhile someone still has to pay for the lights while amassing substantial wealth.
And so many are built in tribal land, especially in Arizona.
@@grahamturner2640 Funny story from the Oregon tribes: While Oregon liberal politicians spend much time virtue signalling on the back of the tribes, they rejected their Casino for the Gorge area.
So the tribes said if they didn't get their casino, they would open the biggest brothel the world has ever seen on sovereign land. The casino was approved 2 years later.
I've never been more proud of my hometown than when we said "K BYE" to the Chargers.
I've been on this soapbox for years! Hopefully people will realize they aren't investing in their "home team." They are increasing in a corporation that makes billionaire owners rich because we foot the bills.
As usual Robert, you're absolutely right..
Anyone notice how many teams tend to do well when the stadium opens, but then seem to go back to being mediocre a couple of years later?
I really don't pay attention to the sports much anymore I consider it a rigged system
The Cleveland Indians were a great example of this. They were terrible for years then jacobs field was built in the mid 90’s then we’re great for the next 6-7 years 455 consecutive sellouts since then have been mediocre
@@johnwinter5028 they sucked real bad last year didn’t they?
@@TheSjuris they made the playoffs last year as one of the youngest teams in baseball which no one expected them to do
I remember after the SF Giants had their new stadium built, they did improve. The attendance increased enough so that they could afford to spend more money for good players.
I remember when the Spanos family tried to strong arm San Diego to build them a new stadium. They just wanted sit in sky boxes we paid for 🤷♂️
Mr. Reich, I couldn't agree more and I've felt this way for several decades. Thank you!
Ah. In time for the Super Bowl. And so many of the events have been going on in downtown Phoenix and old town Scottsdale, instead of Glendale, as Glendale doesn’t even have the facilities for those events. Glendale doesn’t have much in terms of mass transit near the stadium (the light rail line doesn’t even come close to Glendale, and the stadium is only served with 1 bus route that only has a bus every 30 minutes, and the nearest stop isn’t even that close to the stadium). The light rail line does go through downtown Phoenix and connects to the airport, though buses are needed to connect the line to old town Scottsdale, which actually has somewhat decent bus service.
They're doing that in Nashville.... The Titans want a newer stadium now... after the city built them one when they left Houston (remember, they were the Oilers then) for the SAME DAMN REASON.
And they're gonna GET IT.
They can take every damn team away, including the ones I like. None of them is worth a penny of tax money.
This is spot on, privatisation of profits and nationalisation of liabilities. This rule book is used around the world and the best would be to privatise the stadiums and make the codes own them in larger cities as they have sufficient funds to own, manage and operate. Sport is such a sink for public funds and the real beneficiaries are the players, teams, and owners. The rest of us pay it through taxes, high fees, and high costs of goods and services.
The Arizona Cardinals began in Chicago but moved to St. Louis in 1960. When STL wouldn’t build them a stadium they left for Arizona in 1988.
Then the Rams moved from LA to STL to fill the stadium we built in the hopes of landing an expansion team. Three decades later the Rams returned to LA.
Sports franchises are all too ready to play Musical Cities, and the fans be screwed. Except for the Packers. Hey, let's make ALL teams in ALL franchises publicly owned!
And St. Louis, more importantly the State of Missouri, hasn't missed the Cardinals or the Rams a single day since they left town.
@@freyathewanderer6359 if the NFL had their way, the Packers wouldn’t be in Wisconsin.
@@freyathewanderer6359 What rationale would there be for that? What if a new government is elected and wants to cede ownership back to the companies who owned them before the buyout? And how would the electorate be convinced that this is not the first domino to fall on the path to communism?
@@freyathewanderer6359 The NFL has internal bylaws now that specifically prevent public ownership in any other NFL cities. Only Green Bay gets to stay public.
I have always hated how companies can buy a stadium, change the name, and then expect us all to call it the new name. I don't know what Gillette Stadium in MA was called before but I bet it was just another company name. We just called it Foxboro stadium because that's where it is. Like, the billionaire is subsidized in its construction, then further reduces expenses by charging another company to put its name on it.
Yep, it’ll always be ‘Foxboro’ to me, too.
Companies don't buy the stadium. They just pay for naming rights.
We had a non-profit Children's Hospital just pay 10 million dollars for naming rights on a local stadium. Every year, they have an event day where they team up with a local newspaper and sell the issue for several dollars to benefit the Hospital! Why? They apparently have plenty of dough to throw around!
@@markrice4808 Here, it was Blue Cross. A year later, Blue Cross paid its CEO a 6 million dollar departure bonus. So, the public arena was not just a burden upon taxpayers, but a burden on those with health insurance as well.
@J Stephens Don't forget that in the end, the team leaves anyway--no what appeasement efforts!
Whenever billionaire sports team owners try to sell us on a shiny new stadium, they claim it will spur economic growth from which we’ll all benefit.
But numerous studies have shown that this is false.
Don't believe the hype.
But what if research is launched into specific cases and said research proves that it would bring an economic benefit, at least in the particular locale?
I'm also kind of sick of paying for municipal golf courses, too!
Gov DeWine (R) from Ohio and his family owns the Asheville, NC triple A team The Tourists. Our McCormick field is no longer acceptable to Gov DeWine and he is threatening to move the team. This is small time potatoes compared to Arizona, Seattle, Oakland, Chicago or any of the other large population/media markets. Even though it is much smaller the DeWine family is following the same playbook as you outline in this video. There is much sentimental attachment to McCormick field as it has had a team play here since 1897, Babe Ruth once hit a home run here and Crash's record breaking home run in the movie "Bull Durham" was filmed here. Never the less helping the DeWine family build their dream stadium is not getting support from the populace. I think we all know they could probably afford to build ten replacement stadiums without our support. The DeWine family likes grifting off of public funds as they received $189k from the Paycheck Protection Program during COVID.
The grift is widespread and bipartisan. The current Governor of New York's husband is a contractor for the Buffalo Bills NFL team, and she authorized hundreds of millions in state money to subsidize the new multibillion dollar Buffalo football stadium. In Arizona both political parties roll over to anybody sports-y, as evidenced by many liberal and conservative Phoenix suburbs all heavily subsidizing NBL Spring Training stadiums, and one upping each other to lure major league teams out of downtown Phoenix (like the current Super Bowl stadium, offsetting an inferior location with more generous tax incentives)
Americans are too self absorbed and unmotivated for revolution.
Here in Portland, we don't even _have_ an MLB team, but we've been saturated by a media blitz to split the bill on a new $2 Billion baseball stadium. A plan still digging it's claws into city Government. It won't stop.
A. Growing as we are, we're not _that_ big of a town to begin with, so the bill would be $6000+ per taxpayer.
B. We already have the MODA center (NBA Trailblazers) and Providence Park (Timbers).
Edit: C. We're not much of a Baseball town to begin with.
Portland Oregon is a soccer town and that is about it.
@@r.pres.4121 For real. Most of us don't even care about our NBA team all that much anymore.
1:23 Even the Packers threatened to play more games in Milwaukee when they wanted a new stadium. We ended up paying a .5% sales tax for the stadium construction. The county government kept the sales tax around after the sales tax expired.
The packers needed another expansion after the first, and tried to have the sales tax expanded again. They failed, and instead sold more “stock” and paid for it that way.
The county residents where spouse to get access to tickets also. There is a lottery, and you have to buy 4 $120 tickets for a game you can’t choose. They just reduced the number of tickets available in the program because nobody was buying them anymore.
So even the Packers play these billionaire games with the public’s money.
And if you’re the local politician that actually tells the sports owner to go pound sand, you’re a demon and out the door.
In Minneapolis, when the fat cats wanted the public to build them a stadium, it was made a referendum which taxpayers overwhelmingly shot down many times. But guess what? They went ahead and started digging the hole anyway. They knew that they were going to get their [our] money. Well, that stadium became obsolete and now we have a new debacle for taxpayers to pay for. How long will this one remain viable?
The Bidwell’s told St. Louis that if they would agree to built them a 70,000 seat domed football stadium maybe they would keep their team there. They never intended to stay.
Finally, somebody stated my exact feelings! Many of the stadium deals are even more egregious than the one portrayed here.
Green Bay should be the rule NOT the exception, socialism can be good, very good, beats corporate fascism every time.
The Sacramento Kings are in their 3rd Arena since moving into town.
Odd how it seems that the worse the team, the LOUDER its owner screams about a new stadium... ESPECIALLY if it's the only sports franchise in the city.
Memphis is in the same bag with the Grizzlies- admittedly, they keep upgrading it, but it's only a matter of time....
My friend and I have been saying this about stadiums for years! Let the teams move to new cities -- and maybe all cities will learn the lesson and tell the owners to build their own damn stadiums!
In Howard Cosells " I never played the game " he describes this and other money schemes perpetrated by the NFL .
I took the course SPORTS AND THE LAW with him as my Professor .
In Chicago if the White Sox don't get a certain level of attendance the tax payer has to make up the difference, and now the bears want a new stadium in the suburbs, the bears can afford to build there own stadium, if they want to leave let them, they won't get a fan base like they have here, the middle class support's the whole world, it's time for the rich guy's to pony up and pay there share instead of always asking for handouts and tax breaks
Dude, it should be rich guys and supports, not rich guy's and support's. To make something plural you just add an S or an ES, not an apostrophe.
Socialism for the billionaires, hard core capitalism for the rest of us. And they have convinced 100% of their rubes to think that "socialism" is evil. Ain't it a hoot as they are the biggest socialists in the history of the earth.
Great job, reporting this.
Interesting how the stadium is publicly funded, but State Farm gets its name on it.
This also applies to attracting "businesses" with tax breaks .
Never underestimate the capacity of the citizenry to do what is in their least best interest.
It sad enough this happens in the states as well as college stadiums. Tax payers should never pay for any owner to build their stadium. Then the money they make from concessions makes them even more.
Yet we have homeless, families struggling, yes this money could be used in every form of infrastructure.
So what should happen if non-billionaire team owners want to build stadiums in cities that are not served by any league and towns want to be “put on the map” so that they can have long-term economic gains with businesses possibly stagnating?
Not to mention that the 'temporary' taxes levied to build the stadiums somehow never go away. Also, the owners are rewarded for not properly caring for the expensive structures with a new one.
"One of the few realms of collective identity we have left"
The most important quote of this whole video. This is how we justify it.
Thank you Robert. Same story in Baltimore
I believe Camden Yards was one of the first, if not the first, projects that started this horrible policy of funding stadiums with taxpayer revenue. That also included funding through lotteries if I remember correctly
More welfare for billionaires! Thanks for this expose! Now what can be done to stop this scam?
call your elected local government officials. it comes down to what a community wants. there's no right or wrong answer.
When I worked at a small college that brought in a pro football team that would throw away perfectly good lobster and other expensive food. I felt if they can afford to do that they can afford to pay for their own stadiums.
We have the best government money can buy.
Pittsburgh Steelers did exactly this. I owned a home within city limits and paid the price. The cost of a new stadium to be paid for with tax payer money was put to a vote and was defeated, so property owners were told the team was going to plan B. Within a year my property taxes doubled
That plan B was against the will of the people and should have been struck down by the courts.
Yeah…I could not have been a bigger sports fan for the first 30 years of my life, and I still follow things pretty closely, but you’re absolutely right-there’s not an owner in all of pro sports that couldn’t have a state of the art, windfall-profitable stadium built in a month or less without public funding. They do it because they can, and we let them. It’s sickening how minimal the amount of action is taken within the pro sports leagues that actually prioritizes the fans.
I have been saying this for years. Nobody listens. Even here in Green bay where the team is nominally people owned.
Nominal indeed, the average Green Bay public citizen "owner" might have a fancy certificate but no actual say in any decisions.
The Sacramento Kings stadium is another good example. The new stadium was moved to downtown Sacramento and has less parking and it is smaller than the old stadium. What a scam!
The only case that I know of where public money wasn't used was the Palace of Auburn Hills. Then owner Bill Davidson used his money to build it. Little Caears Arena, where the Detroit Pistons and Red Wings play, owned by two different billionaires, fleeced the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan despite Detroit going through a bankruptcy. Disgusting behavior.
Thank you. When I was a kid in the 1960s I got the impression that sports fans and owners actually ridiculed an occasional family for taking their kids to a “snob” opera or ballet. In todays world the more expensive performing arts in sport or theater is sports. Try getting a season ticket to a hot and performing football team and sit in a “great seat” for a season. I can’t imagine that cost??? 10k USD per seat?!
Yup. The opera or symphony is cheap in comparison. Insane.
I've always questioned fan loyalty to a team when the team doesn't reciprocate.
So right! The latest boondoggle is Buffalo Bill’s stadium in NY! Shame on NY governor!
The amount of money spent on professional team sports in the US boggles my mind.
The money made by professional sports teams and players boggles the mind,
@@gmamagillmore4812 Yes, that too.
The Chicago Bears are trying to pull this in their proposed move to the suburb of Arlington Heights. Even if they don't get public funding for a new stadium, they'll get a boatload of tax breaks. They're claiming some ridiculous figures of public benefit; I believe they said the new stadium would create 42,000 new jobs. Sure, Jan! This after soaking the taxpayers for $430 million remodeling (and destroying the architectural aesthetic of) Soldier Field in 2001. Somebody ought to play this video at the next Arlington Heights city council meeting.
WELL DONE, Professor!! May your messages continue to be AMPLIFIED!🗣️ AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE EARS TO HEAR 👂 WILL VOTE!!👌🏻🙌🏻🗳️
I’m glad San Diego voters told the Chargers to take a hike when they asked for a new downtown stadiums!
This video is spot on. The only wrong thing is the freeway at the end.
Freeways have proven to be disastrous public policy.
Even though they are safer than low-speed roads with countless intersections and stores?
And in the case of football teams, they only use the stadium for about 12 days a year.
I've never been able to figure out why the public has to pay for billionaires sports stadiums. Insane. Don't give me the "good for the city" bullshit.
Exactly! "Good for the city" is 100% pure male bovine solid bodily waste ejecta. These expensive stadiums cost their cities more than they pay back. A thousand blessings on San Diego - dare I say Go Padres? - for telling the Chargers to [bleep] off.
There might be pressure from local sports fans and the media. If the billionaire can stir up enough publicity the fans will voluntarily bombard the elected officials to pressure them to cave rather than risk losing their beloved team.