Here is small part
Are stadiums effective engines of economic growth?
Simple answer: No. They don’t generate much net
economic activity whatsoever. At best, they redirect economic activity
from one part of the city, state or region to another. At worst, they
utilize resources that are in high demand in other parts of the city
(e.g. construction workers) to work on a project that produces little in
the way of net economic benefits.
.....
Are stadiums wise investments for cities to make?
I think there are very few—perhaps zero—examples
of expenditures on sports stadiums being a good deal in raw economic
terms. Some are worse than others. You’d be hard-pressed to find a
single example of a situation where this sort of spending provides a
positive return without including the water cooler effect.
What would be a better investment of public funds?
In a perfect world, I’d say that we should
invest in something that makes workers more productive. Many economists
are pretty negative about transportation spending (especially on rails),
but I tend to think more highly of that type of spending. Something
like rail lines might be a good idea.
We should have our hired gun, Zimbalist, update his pro-forma numbers based on where we stand today..
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