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He COULD pay for it himself...and he could ALSO move the team somewhere else.
Some place that will pay for it for him.
Charlotte must decide if having Pro-Sports is a thing that makes it more attractive - or less.
Pretty much every major city has decided - it's worth it.
If people can't be entertained without being taxed in order for the entertainment to be provided, then it's time to just give up.
If taxes to support providing entertainment (particularly when billionaires don't wish to pay its full costs yet keep the profits) were banned nationwide, it would be better because funds would be allocated more efficiently, and I'm sure that people would find ways to be entertained.
Just because "every major city" has decided to do something doesn't mean that it's the most economically efficient use of tax dollars, or that it wouldn't exist in a free market.
If a self-made billionaire won't pay for an investment on his or her own, then it's probably not a good investment.
Its because there is a need to provide entertainment to our growing crowds of ILLEGAL ALIENS...
LOL. Pretty sure 98%+ of the fans at a Panther's game are not illegal aliens. One can be concerned about illegal immigration and stadium taxes while not being sensationalist. If they can afford to go to a Panthers game at $100+ a seat... good for them! They must be making good income!
If a self-made billionaire won't pay for an investment on his or her own, then it's probably not a good investment.
Stadiums are complicated because the city and the owner both have vested interests in the stadium and in mid-size cities like Charlotte, the NFL stadium is often the largest venue in the city that makes supporting non-NFL events also possible. It allows Charlotte to host things that the Triangle, the Triad, SC-Upstate, Columbia, Chattanooga, et.. can't host to support our event economy.
Some of the investments directly benefit the team owner:
Ticket revenue
Food and beverage sales within the stadium
The value of the NFL team
Improved suites / corporate sponsorships
Some of the investment are more attractive to the city / county that have different goals than the owner include:
Growing the amount of jobs in the area -> direct and indirect
Increase in sales tax and the property tax on the stadium
Having an amenity for recruiting major corporations to a mid-size city like Truist Financial, Honeywell International, Ally Financial, Robinhood, et... these companies provide high paying jobs, invest in the city, and may in turn get box seats / suits at the stadium (benefiting owner)
Securing non-NFL events like the Garth Brooks Concert, Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, Elton John, Duke Mayo Bowl, ACC Championship, et.. that entertain residents and bring people Uptown to spend money on hotels, restaurants, and shopping.
Stadiums are complicated because the city and the owner both have vested interests in the stadium and in mid-size cities like Charlotte, the NFL stadium is often the largest venue in the city that makes supporting non-NFL events also possible. It allows Charlotte to host things that the Triangle, the Triad, SC-Upstate, Columbia, Chattanooga, et.. can't host to support our event economy.
Some of the investments directly benefit the team owner:
Ticket revenue
Food and beverage sales within the stadium
The value of the NFL team
Improved suites / corporate sponsorships
Some of the investment are more attractive to the city / county that have different goals than the owner include:
Growing the amount of jobs in the area -> direct and indirect
Increase in sales tax and the property tax on the stadium
Having an amenity for recruiting major corporations to a mid-size city like Truist Financial, Honeywell International, Ally Financial, Robinhood, et... these companies provide high paying jobs, invest in the city, and may in turn get box seats / suits at the stadium (benefiting owner)
Securing non-NFL events like the Garth Brooks Concert, Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, Elton John, Duke Mayo Bowl, ACC Championship, et.. that entertain residents and bring people Uptown to spend money on hotels, restaurants, and shopping.
I appreciate your well-thought-out post. That makes sense. I'm not sure if the total jobs and tax revenues do increase due to a stadium; studies I've seen suggest that jobs, spending and tax revenues are just reallocated from other sources and uses in the trade area (since if people didn't go to a football game or other event, they'd spend their time and money elsewhere).
I still think that if a stadium is inherently a good investment, the private sector would cover all of it. Nearly all stadiums were privately-built until sometime after WWII, when teams began to move or threaten to move unless they received public funding for their stadiums. So the private sector has built stadiums before, and it could again, but team owners are savvy enough to use carrots and sticks to get tax dollars used instead of having to use their own money. I suspect that billionaire owners of football teams are laughing all the way to the bank when they get taxpayers to pay for stadiums instead of having to use the billionaire's own money for them.
I appreciate your well-thought-out post. That makes sense. I'm not sure if the total jobs and tax revenues do increase due to a stadium; studies I've seen suggest that jobs, spending and tax revenues are just reallocated from other sources and uses in the trade area (since if people didn't go to a football game or other event, they'd spend their time and money elsewhere).
I still think that if a stadium is inherently a good investment, the private sector would cover all of it. Nearly all stadiums were privately-built until sometime after WWII, when teams began to move or threaten to move unless they received public funding for their stadiums. So the private sector has built stadiums before, and it could again, but team owners are savvy enough to use carrots and sticks to get tax dollars used instead of having to use their own money. I suspect that billionaire owners of football teams are laughing all the way to the bank when they get taxpayers to pay for stadiums instead of having to use the billionaire's own money for them.
They will spend their money and time elsewhere...say Atlanta or DC (football has regional appeal/draw with a hefty emotional element and fan relationship). The owners do have skin in the game as they have significant investment in the stadium, etc. Pre-WWII? Surely you jest given the evolution of business models, sports, technology, entertainment, etc since that era. It certainly is the free market driving the process since owners now have other markets, etc that can be used to leverage their investments - the purest form of capitalism which is to never, ever, ever use your own money to make money when it isn't necessary (don't look at me, I didn't make the rules...just take a quick look at that magic in downtown Charlotte - banks are simply a service industry based on these principles which is to use other peoples money to make money).
I'd imagine it was an extremely risky proposition in that era given no idea that sports would morph into billion dollar businesses. So, it's probably a good push/pull relationship to have the owners and local officials (taxpayer representatives) with significant skin in the game. I still think you fail to realize the psyche of it all....it's about more than money as to why the owners have that leverage.
Last edited by Big Aristotle; 08-02-2021 at 07:49 PM..
...the city could potentially pump some of the tourism tax revenue into museums and the arts. they could look into directing funds towards a zoo too, though finding land in city limits would be challenging.
The bottom line on this subject is very simple. If CLT or any other city except NYC or maybe LA or Chicago want to keep their pro sports teams then they must pony up the money. There is always another city standing in line that would happily build a stadium for the team. CLT wants to stay in the pro sports business. Pro sports is just one of the attractions that helps CLT attract the high paying jobs.
In addition, CLT hosts the ACC championship football game every year as well as a college football kickoff game. Teams and their fans usually come from universities within the ACC, SEC, and Big 10. The university students from the participating schools have a reason to come to downtown CLT and they come by the thousands. These students would have no reason to come to CLT were it not for their university’s participation in the game. Once they come to downtown CLT, they see a clean and vibrant downtown with many jobs, apartments, condos, bars and restaurants. They say the light rail lines and they may get to other bar districts such as SouyhEnd. Plaza Midwiod or NoDa. They come to realize that maybe they may choose to live in CLT. CLT is one of the top cities in the US for young college graduates. These graduates are a necessity to fill the fill the new banking and IT jobs. But had these students not have had the opportunity to come to CLt for the football game then it is very possible that ClT would have never been on their list of cities to locate to. The reason why CLT is able to attract so many of the high paying jobs is because there are qualified people to fill the jobs. I do not think that economists take into consideration this impact on the CLT economy because the recruited jobs are equivalent to a trickle down effect. CLT does not have the benefit of having several large universities as does Raleigh. But CLT has found a way to still recruit young talent that in turn helps to recruit the high paying jobs. There are many cities in the US that wish they were in ClT’s shoes.
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