LTTE: Smoking at Vikings Stadium?

[TreasonousBastard]

20. The argument is that while we are...

subsidizing shopping malls, research parks and other commercial ventures, the construction and other jobs pay a large part of the cost. And, besides, if we don't do it the team will move to some place that will.

This is, of course nonsense. Many of the other subsidized commercial ventures end up losing money for the local government even when they have good prospects, and owners use the competition to drive better deals. Mercedes even admitted they were being given much more than they needed, or even wanted, when they opened that plant in Alabama-- they actually gave some of it back.

Besides, when are cities going to stand up and say they don't give a damn if the team moves? Usually, the only people who care enough to talk about it are the fans, so it seems like there's a huge outcry. But if you look at school budget fights, you'll think that maybe the average citizen might not want to subsidize multi-million dollar salaries for sports "heroes" if they got the facts.

Not only do I agree that sports teams should get no subsidies since they can pay for everything they need, including stadiums, should they have to, but I question the ability of some hack mayor to properly negotiate with an organization that has made billions negotiating deals.