Economy
Related: About this forumHow the NFL Fleeces Taxpayers
Taxpayers fund the stadiums, antitrust law doesn't apply to broadcast deals, the league enjoys nonprofit status, and Commissioner Roger Goodell makes $30 million a year. It's time to stop the public giveaways to America's richest sports leagueand to the feudal lords who own its teams.
Last year was a busy one for public giveaways to the National Football League. In Virginia, Republican Governor Bob McDonnell, who styles himself as a budget-slashing conservative crusader, took $4 million from taxpayers pockets and handed the money to the Washington Redskins, for the team to upgrade a workout facility. Hoping to avoid scrutiny, McDonnell approved the gift while the state legislature was out of session. The Redskins owner, Dan Snyder, has a net worth estimated by Forbes at $1 billion. But even billionaires like to receive expensive gifts.
Taxpayers in Hamilton County, Ohio, which includes Cincinnati, were hit with a bill for $26 million in debt service for the stadiums where the NFLs Bengals and Major League Baseballs Reds play, plus another $7 million to cover the direct operating costs for the Bengals field. Pro-sports subsidies exceeded the $23.6 million that the county cut from health-and-human-services spending in the current two-year budget (and represent a sizable chunk of the $119 million cut from Hamilton County schools). Press materials distributed by the Bengals declare that the team gives back about $1 million annually to Ohio community groups. Sound generous? Thats about 4 percent of the public subsidy the Bengals receive annually from Ohio taxpayers.
In Minnesota, the Vikings wanted a new stadium, and were vaguely threatening to decamp to another state if they didnt get it. The Minnesota legislature, facing a $1.1 billion budget deficit, extracted $506 million from taxpayers as a gift to the team, covering roughly half the cost of the new facility. Some legislators argued that the Vikings should reveal their finances: privately held, the team is not required to disclose operating data, despite the public subsidies it receives. In the end, the Minnesota legislature folded, giving away public money without the Vikings disclosing information in return. The teams principal owner, Zygmunt Wilf, had a 2011 net worth estimated at $322 million; with the new stadium deal, the Vikings value rose about $200 million, by Forbess estimate, further enriching Wilf and his family. They will make a token annual payment of $13 million to use the stadium, keeping the lions share of all NFL ticket, concession, parking, and, most important, television revenues.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/how-the-nfl-fleeces-taxpayers/309448/
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)they think socialism and government hand-outs are great for billionaires like themselves. For the needy, neglected, and abused - not so much.
Hotler
(11,447 posts)to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and show some personal responsibility???
The answer is never.
You are neglecting the fact that these teams generate considerable tax revenue from sales and income taxes.
Putting money back into the team is not that different than upgrading music venue's and building theaters.
unless i am missing your point
gopiscrap
(23,765 posts)orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)Your sort of comparing Oranges to Avacodos, a team isn't a venue, and public money supporting a private Team isn't like leasing a theatre, for an array of activities, it's supporting business for the sake of a small faction, with all the Tax breaks you didn't mention .