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Opinion
Barry Ritholtz

Four Reasons Taxpayers Should Never Subsidize Stadiums

Elected officials have been played by team owners and sports leagues. 

Priceless doesn’t begin to describe it.

Priceless doesn’t begin to describe it.

Photographer: Michael Chang/Getty Images North America

Your tax dollars are being wasted, on an enormous scale, by uncompetitive socialist enterprises that ignore the basic rules of economics.

I refer, of course, to the practice of politicians who give taxpayer dollars to subsidize the business of sports by paying for the construction and/or renovation of stadiums and arenas. These exercises in crony capitalism make no sense whatsoever. There has never been a decent reason to subsidize these successful businesses, which rarely produce a real return on the public’s investment. Nor is civic pride a justification.