Ask a Libertarian: "Why do sports teams & stadiums dominate the political climate?" #5

Welcome to Ask a Libertarian with Reason's Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch. They are the authors of the new book The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America. 

Go to http://declaration2011.com to purchase, read reviews, find event dates, and more.

On June 15, 2011 Gillespie and Welch used short, rapid-fire videos to answer dozens of reader questions submitted via email, Twitter, Facebook, and Reason.com. In this episode, they answer the question:

"Why do sports teams and their need for newer / better stadiums dominate the political climate of some states? Example: In MN we are about to have a state government shutdown because the budget can't be balanced. There is also pressure from the MN Vikings to have the state of MN and one city to pay for 2/3 of a 1.2 billion dollar stadium. I have read an article on Cato that stated public funded stadiums do not provide any return on investment for the tax payers dollars. If that is true, then why would politicians agree to fund a new stadium? Wouldn't it be in the best interest of the team to have a privately financed stadium? Doesn't giving taxpayer money for a new stadium increase the value of the team and thus increase the pocketbook of an already rich person?"

For the complete series, go to http://reason.com/archives/2011/06/10/ask-a-libertarian and Reason.tv's YouTube Channel at http://youtube.com/reasontv

Produced by Meredith Bragg, Jim Epstein, Josh Swain, with help from Katie Hooks, Kyle Blaine and Jack Gillespie.

Comments

[mr simple]

Are these really the best questions they got? If the submitter has already read the Cato pieces, aren't they basically asking Nick and Matt to explain what goes on in the mind of a politician? Do not stare into that abyss, Matt and Nick!

No, I haven't WTFV because I'm at work.

[Bee Tagger]

I think of these as more like Reason's version of John Stossel shows/articles. They're good introductory discussions on topics that hopefully people are interested enough in to watch.

[Dr. Smith]

This was old an hour ago.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Consol Energy Center is AWESOME! Shut up.

[CE]

Actually, they don't, but they become a political issue when people want other people to subsidize their team and its stadium.

[New World Dan]

I should point out that one of the big sticking points of the proposed Vikings stadium in Arden Hills is the $160 million needed for infrastructure improvements and who is going to pay for that. Restructuring 694 and Highway 10 will still benefit a lot of people on the 357 non game days each year (or 356 if you count the perennial playoff dissapointment). My point being that there's a lot more involved than just the cost of the physical structure of the stadium and it's just not possible to build a stadium without some government participation. That said, once you look at who contributes what to the deal, the team always wins. Except in the playoffs. Fucking Vikings.