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Cities' Economies Not Helped by Sports Teams, Study Says

UC report slams use of public funds

Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, August 24, 1998

Contrary to the oft-repeated claim by sports supporters and local governments, professional teams have not helped the economies in any of the seven California cities that host such teams, according to a new study from the University of California at Berkeley.

The award-winning study by UC graduate student Jack Sylvan found that the level of a city's economic activity was not affected by the presence of sports franchises, and it questioned the diversion of public funds away from unmet urban needs.

``This refutes the claim by professional sports boosters that sports franchises stimulate the local economy,'' Sylvan wrote.

The analysis, ``Professional Sports Subsidy as Economic Development,'' was published by UC's Institute of Urban and Regional Development and released last week. Winner of the annual McClure Award for the nation's best master's degree project in urban planning, it is the latest of several academic analyses that cast doubt on the reputed economic benefits of professional sports franchises

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Do Taxpayers Support Stadium Building?

Although a casual observer might believe that the flood of tax dollars poured into new stadiums sprang from some public mandate, appearances are deceiving. When asked, taxpayers generally oppose spending tax dollars to build stadiums. The following graph shows the results of a 1997 Rasmussen Poll in which 64 percent of respondents answered “no” to the question of whether tax dollars should ever be used to build a professional sports facility.

(Quoted above)

Cities' Economies Not Helped by Sports Teams, Study Says

UC report slams use of public funds

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=chronicle/archive/1998/08/24/MN57828.DTL

Do Taxpayers Support Stadium Building?

http://www.ntu.org/main/press.php?PressID=345&org_name=NTUF

(More articles:)

Want Economic Stimulus? Don’t Build a Sports Stadium!

http://nevadanewsandviews.com/2010/07/11/want-economic-stimulus-don%E2%80%99t-build-a-sports-stadium/

Pro sports stadiums don't bolster local economies, scholars say

http://news.illinois.edu/news/04/1117stadiums.html

Sports Subsidies Don't Add Up For Taxpayers. An Analysis of Minnesota Stadium/Arena Subsidies