Sports Stadiums

With an increasing amount of state budgets (taxpayer dollars, that is) being allocated for new prisons and sports stadiums, Reverend Jesse Jackson has argued in many public appearances of late that these developments come at the expense of and instead of improvements in public school systems. Since ninety percent of those in prisons are high school dropouts, Jackson argues our schools have become feeding grounds for prisons. The problem is worst in major urban areas, the exact same areas investing hundreds of millions and even billions in new sports stadiums. With sports franchise owners and the majority of sports players making millions of dollars in profits yearly, are sports stadiums something taxpayers need to subsidize? In other words, do sports stadiums require social welfare? State and local government leaders, many of them leaders of some of the nation's most deplorable public school systems, are glassy-eyed over the lure of sports stadiums and major sports franchises. All they see are the enormous economic promises they believe the construction of these stadiums guarantee. They often fail to understand the relatively minor impact of these franchises on the local economy. This has created a welfare system whose funds are directed toward the rich, instead of the impoverished, both in terms of individuals and infrastructure institutions, "A welfare system exists in this country that transfers hu

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om creating new jobs that have decent wages and benefits in other industries, we see the huge discrepancy and waste involved with stadiums. In Alabama, for instance, legislatures came under fire for wanting to build a Mercedes-Benz plant to the tune of $300 million, however, experts contend this cost of job creation would not only be less or comparable to sports stadiums, but it would provide high-paying jobs with benefits, "The state came under attack for bidding $300 million for a plant that would employ 1,500 workers, a cost of $200,00 per workers. One of the proposals by the Yankees to move from the Bronx to the west side of Manhattan would have meant an $800 million stadium for 440 permanent jobs, a cost of $1.82 million per job. Much of the public seems unaware of the fact that the permanent jobs created by sports stadiums generally is low paid. If taxpayers want those expensive toys at the expense of serious job development, that is their right. But they should understand who wins the game" (Jackson 1-2). Who wins the game are the owners and players who divide nearly all of the millions of dollars in extra revenues generated by new stadiums. Further, this kind of massive public expenditure on private industry is unc

Category: Economics - S