Credible Economic Stimulant Or Implied Catalyst?

Taxpayer Money being Used to Fund Professional Sports Organizations; Credible Economic Stimulant or Implied Catalyst? Sports are something most Americans can relate to; many of us played some type of sport as a kid and some of us are diehard fans. Sports have developed with us as a society and have become an important part of our culture and you can see their effect in many cities countrywide. Professional sports remain a centerpiece of many major metropolitan cities across the United States. The facilities where these teams play can become a pillar of the local community and the teams themselves can bring people from all walks of life together in search of one common goal, for their team to win. What many fans and city residents do not
Charles Santo, a Ph.D., and professor of Urban Studies at The University of Memphis wrote an article titled “The Economic Impact of Sports Stadiums: Recasting the Analysis in Context” in which he finds several examples of new or renovated stadiums having a positive correlation to increased jobs. Santo states “an increase in sports-related jobs for the area following construction. These jobs include those in general merchandise stores, apparel and accessory stores, eating and drinking establishments, hotels and motels, and amusement and recreation firms” (Santo, 2005). When stadiums are being built there will be hundreds and sometimes thousands of construction positions
According to John J. Byczkowski and his article “Bengals lease 'pretty sweet deal’” written in 2000 when Paul Brown Stadium was about to open writes about the enormous amount of money Hamilton County has dedicated to its two professional franchises. In his article John states, “All told, Hamilton County estimates that by 2027, a year after the current lease ends, it will have spent more than $800 million to keep the Bengals in Cincinnati” (Byczkowski, 2000). The deal between Hamilton county and their two professional sports teams, The Cincinnati Reds and The Bengals is so lopsided that it was even featured on an episode of ‘Last Week Tonight’ with John Oliver titled “Stadiums”. John Oliver states around the 12-minute mark of the video that “since building the stadium (Paul Brown Stadium) Hamilton county has had to sell a public hospital, cut 1,700 jobs and delay payments for schools” (Oliver,