Via Northwest Progressive Institute, “The economic model is broken“:
“It’s the worst of all economic models, a monopoly run by millionaires where cities are manipulated into a financing contest with each other. ‘The team can’t win unless we’ve got the money.’ Phooey. Let them play the game on the court, not in our wallets.”
Indeed. I’ve often wondered, to myself and aloud to others, how anyone can get excited about a “home” team that contains no local players, and really has nothing to do with the local area. I say, let’s trash the professional teams. Spend the money on building amazing fields and facilities for local leagues and amateur teams and parks and trails for local people.
Did you know that hurling, an Irish sport with great following, is only amateur? At least, that’s what I understand.
Just skip the circuses, that’s what I think about silly professional teams that suck up local money when they have huge flows of money of their own. The economic model is broken if professional teams cannot pay their own way and require states and municipalities to subsidize huge amounts of income for a small group.
I always resented having to build stadiums in SimCity, too. The public already pays for tickets, and that’s not the only income source for professional sports.
If the sports teams can’t pay for themselves, then maybe it’s a business that shouldn’t exist? Certainly, I doubt it should be protected from failure by subsidy when there are so many funding options available to the business. Perhaps there needs to be a National League of Cities response to sports team, if there isn’t one already. Cities need to get together on this the way that did, or better, when dealing with cable contracts.