From the Wall Street Journal

Sports economists have long argued that publicly financed stadiums are a waste of taxpayer money. And they have the data to prove it.

Yes, stadiums do create high-paying construction jobs for a year or two. But the vast majority of long-term employment is low-wage concession jobs. A Congressional Research Service study of the Baltimore Ravens stadium found that each job created cost the state $127,000. By comparison, Maryland’s Sunny Day Fund created jobs for about $6,000 each.

“Walk a few blocks away from the stadiums and you’ll see the net economic impact of both the Ravens’ stadium and Camden Yards,” said Neil deMause, author of “Field of Schemes,” a book and Web site devoted to the false promises of publicly financed sports stadiums. “Both have produced a plethora of pawn shops and dollar stores.” A 1998 report by the New York City Independent Budget Office found no “economic rationale for assuming that building any new stadium would itself spur construction of office towers and hotels. Total output resulting from the presence of the teams in the city amounts to less than one tenth of one percent of the economic activity in New York City.”

That’s just what we need downtown, more pawn shops and a few dollar stores to enhance the second-rate hotel and the elusive condominium project we (may) be getting.

But perhaps the best argument against publicly financed stadiums is straight out of Econ 101: Opportunity cost.

“What else could the city have invested its money in and what kind of a return would it have produced?” said King Banaian, chairman of the St. Cloud State (Minn.) Economics Dept. Despite reams of evidence to the contrary, the District proceeded with what Councilman Kwame Brown calls “the most controversial project in the history of the city.”

It was controversial, he said, because the city had more pressing needs. The city’s schools are in shambles; crime is out of control; and unemployment in distressed neighborhoods, like Southeast, is double the national average, if not higher.

[...]

So in the end, what did the taxpayers get other than a bill for $611 million? The Washington National’s Web site advertises jobs for elevator operators, fan ambassadors and security guards. The pay is $7.50-$8.50 an hour.

And these are major league stadiums they’re talking about, not the bottom of the barrel minor league.

The retail space being leased by Barry Sturges / CB Richard Ellis has yet to obtain a confirmed tenant. All 24,000 square feet is still available on CB Richard Ellis web site for $30 a square foot. Right down the street on Illinois road you can lease retail for $14 – $20 a square foot, and they already have the traffic. There is one facility, 14 Square that has been basically empty since construction was completed over two years ago. And they’re building another 10,000 square foot retail center just past Apple Glen.

Good luck with that premium over-priced real estate Mr. Sturges.

AWB

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