Orlando City Soccer New Stadium
By Robert “Bobby” Parsons, Esq.
As you may or may not be aware, Orlando City Soccer Club recently announced that it would be financing its new stadium 100% privately. Citizens of Orlando should count their blessings at this announcement. Economic data abounds showing how public money is routinely wasted on new sports stadiums.
For instance, Glendale, Arizona paid $300 million for their stadium. The city’s debt is now 4 times the national median, 40% of which is solely for sports complexes. Glendale’s budget is in such a dire state that half of the city’s teachers, firefighters, and police were threatened with layoffs–but were saved by a permanent 10% sales tax on residents. This tax just adds on to the burden of its citizens resulting from poor public spending. This is the Superbowl scandal you didn’t hear about.
This is just one of many sad stories of publicly funded stadiums.
The money with which these stadiums are built usually comes from funds intended for roads and other infrastructure. The more recent trend for subsidizing sports complexes is in the form of subtle tax breaks for a franchise’s operations. Not only do the franchises receive special treatment through tax breaks, but some of the biggest revenue streams are deductible, ie: advertising and corporate suites.
Proponents of publicly funded stadiums often point to the increased spending by citizens in the area. This fails to take into account the fact that this is entertainment money that would have been spent elsewhere, resulting in a net zero effect. While the money spent by citizens resulting from a new stadium is almost certainly beneficial to the immediate area surrounding the new stadium, the lost opportunity of spending entertainment money elsewhere is felt by a much wider area around the city.
Perhaps the most disconcerting statistic to OC Soccer fans is the fact that, on average, sports teams tend to have progressively worse seasons after new stadiums. This holds true despite the source of the funding. The good news is that the stadium for Orlando has been pushed back a bit, and it probably would be good for the team if it had to be delayed a little further.
Robert “Bobby” Parsons, Esq.
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