In jockeying for Major League Soccer retention and inclusion, numerous cities in recent weeks have echoed a similar mantra.
No new taxes levied upon the broad general public.
For decades, sports teams have extracted favorable financial deals with host cities because of the basic supply-demand dynamic which exists for professional sports teams who hold the threat of being mobile if unsatisfied.
Namely, if you don’t build it, we will leave (or never come in the first place).
And while we shouldn’t expect public financing of sports facilities to ever completely dissipate (both for political and legitimate reasons), there is no question it is becoming more difficult for teams to extract the volume of public subsidies they once enjoyed from local, county, and state coffers.
Forbes
by Patrick Rishe, Contributor
Dec 21, 2018