Via Alan Vanneman comes word that the Great Recession has turned Minnesota Nice into well-earned skepticism at building publicly financed stadiums for high-performance losers. Land-o-Lakers, reports the NY Times, aren't getting behind a $1.1 billion stadium for football's Vikings:
"We have to ask whether this is really a good use of the money," said King Banaian, one of more than 30 Republicans to join Minnesota's House of Representatives this year and a professor who teaches sports economics at St. Cloud State University. "Should we be supporting a new stadium over higher education? It's simply not a priority. These deals are, by and large, giveaways to millionaires and billionaires."…
To put it bluntly, regardless of how much money the state treasury might be rolling in, a public stadium is not a good use of money. Indeed, sports economists Dennis Coates and Brad Humphries estimate the presence of a major-league franchise reduces overall GDP by about $40 per resident in a given metro area.
The Vikes' ownership has graciously offered to put up $400 million and the state is looking at ponying up $300 million, which means county and local taxpayers (read: suckers) would be on the hook for the remaining $400 million [note: corrected figures to millions]. So generous of the owners, don't you think? Needless to say, the team would get all naming rights and a host of other related goodies.
"How many of you have been touched to your fiber at some time in your lives because of the Minnesota Vikings?" [team owner Zygi] Wilf said during a recent luncheon at the St. Paul Rotary Club, and about two-thirds of the audience raised a hand. "We realize that we're not just the owners of a proud franchise, but we're really stewards of a franchise for the benefit of all the fans who have been touched by the Minnesota Vikings."
Forbes says the team is valued at $835 million and throws off $200 million in revenue annually (the Times' reports a lower value and says profit is low for the team that has lost a record four Super Bowls. That's quite low for the NFL but I'm guessing it's well north of what most Minnesotans make.
Here's a real surprise: Almost 75 percent of local residents don't think public money should be used for a new stadium but the folks literally invested in the team and the building of the stadium are all for it!
Despite the uphill fight to win over legislators, Ted Mondale, the governor's chief negotiator in the stadium debate, said that labor unions, construction companies and corporate executives already back the stadium plan. He emphasized that the stadium would not be corporate welfare and that everything, including naming rights, parking and development rights, was on the table. Opponents need to understand that the state's investment will generate far greater returns, and that the cost of doing nothing would be far worse, he said.
"It's tough to do this in a recession," Mondale said. But "if you lose an N.F.L. team, you look like a loser city."
The issue of a Vikings stadium on the taxpayer dole came up during Matt Welch's and my "Ask a Libertarian" day earlier this year. As we note, not only do the Vikings owe every taxpayer a rebate check, they owe them an apology. Check it out:
Watch the whole "Ask a Libertarian" series (topics range from abortion to net neutrality to movement infighting).
