College Football Teams Can't Keep Making the Lane Kiffin Mistake
The flashy coach is not worth a fraction of the drama he brings with him—and teams end up struggling when he leaves.
stadiums
Baseball's Solution to the Dodgers Isn't a Salary Cap
Plus: Teams in city-owned stadiums keep ending up in court, and Israeli soccer fans get banned from a match in England
Americans Are Turning Against Sports Betting—But It's Not Going Anywhere
Plus: World Cup ticket prices, Michael Jordan against NASCAR, and The Smashing Machine
Trump Should Kill Commanders Stadium Deal, but Not Because of the Team's Name
If Trump kills the deal over the team changing its name, he'd be doing the right thing but in perhaps the most corrupt possible way.
There's No Good Reason for Cities and States To Build or Subsidize Sports Stadiums
“There's no such thing as a free stadium,” says J.C. Bradbury. “You can't just pull revenue out of thin air.”
The New Stadium Scam Is a Server Farm
Local governments love giving sweetheart deals to billion-dollar companies—now data centers instead of football stadiums.
Stop Subsidizing the 'Sport of Kings'
Plus: A ridiculous tax carveout, Trump backs D.C. stadium, and Shedeur Sanders
How the NFL Draft Screws Over Players
Plus: a new NFL stadium, a Boston Marathon record, and Shoresy (huh?)
Tampa Bay Rays Cancel New Stadium Plans After Local Government Stalls Funding
If funding were approved, St. Petersburg residents would have been on the hook for a new stadium for one of baseball’s least attended teams.
How to Fix the Dark Side of the Olympics
The Olympics are a great sports event, but one that also often causes great harm. Here are five reforms that can fix that.
Should It Be Illegal To Fly an RC Plane Within 3 Miles of a Sports Game?
The FAA imposes notoriously wide flight restrictions around stadiums. The consumer drone industry wants to change that.
Poll: A Majority of Las Vegas Voters Don't Want To Pay for Athletics' New Stadium
The team's owner, John Fisher, may have overestimated Las Vegas residents' enthusiasm for a new baseball team.
Taxpayers Refuse To Pay New Stadium Expenses for Billionaire Sports Owners
Jackson County, Missouri, voted not to extend a sales tax that would have benefited the Chiefs and the Royals.
Taxpayers Will Soon Find Out if They'll Have To Finance Fancy Stadiums for the Chiefs and the Royals
Jackson County, Missouri, residents should not be billed for the undertakings of private businesses.
Cheering From the Press Box
Also: Oppenheimer and Godzilla win at the Oscars, Virginia state lawmakers nuke plans for taxpayer-funded arena, and more...
How Much Will Taxpayers Pay for Virginia's $2 Billion Arena Plan?
How much public money will be used remains unclear. The consensus answer seems to be "a lot."
California Officials Force Elderly Couple To Dismantle Home, Citing Blocked Ocean Views
Plus: Austin's newly passed zoning reforms could be in legal jeopardy, HUD releases its latest census of the homeless population, and a little-discussed Florida reform is spurring a wave of home construction.
Virginia Should Refuse to Subsidize the Construction of a New Stadium for the Capitals and Wizards
The proposed deal could be the largest-ever government subsidy for a sports stadium. Studies consistently show such handouts don't benefit communities.
Wisconsin Politicians Want To Spend $550 Million on Ballpark Subsidies the Public Opposes
Just 24 percent of self-identified Trump voters and 34 percent of self-identified Biden voters say they support a public handout for the Milwaukee Brewers' 22-year-old stadium.
Taxpayers Will Pay at Least $600 Million for Tampa Bay's New Baseball Stadium
But will it solve the team's attendance woes? Probably not.
Texas School District Threatens to Seize 79-Year-Old Man's Home for Stadium Parking Lot
The Houston-area Aldine Independent School District is considering the use of eminent domain to seize a one-acre property owned and occupied by Travis Upchurch.
Baltimore Orioles Owners Demand Even More Unnecessary Taxpayer Money
Apparently $600 million to improve a very nice stadium isn’t enough.
The Oakland Athletics Just Showed Why They Don't Need Taxpayers To Buy Their New Stadium
But it didn't matter, as Nevada lawmakers approved a $600 million handout to the team.
Voters Put Arizona Coyotes' Arena Project on Ice
A good example of why so few stadium deals end up on the ballot.
Stadium Subsidy Stupidity Hits New Record
Taxpayers are on the hook for $1.26 billion for a new stadium in Nashville.
Minnesota Taxpayers Could Be Pillaged for $280 Million in Vikings' Stadium Upgrades
Taxpayers spent about $500 million to build U.S Bank stadium, which is just seven years old.
Field of Welfare: How COVID Funds Might Build a Money-Losing Ballpark in a Cornfield
Is there a single movie more tied up with lousy government policy than Field of Dreams?
The Atlanta Braves Won the World Series. Their Stadium Is Still a Taxpayer Boondoggle.
The economic benefits are a home run that never came, and never should have been expected.
Taxpayers To Be Billed a Billion Dollars for Buffalo Bills' New Stadium
If approved by the New York legislature, it would be the biggest public handout in NFL history.
The Super Bowl Will Be Played in the Most Expensive Stadium Ever Built. Taxpayers Didn't Pay a Dime.
Meanwhile, Virginia and Washington, D.C., are in a bidding war to decide which taxpayers will have the chance to pay for the Washington Commanders' new stadium. It shouldn't be this way.
The Packers Have a Unique Way To Fund Stadium Improvements: Ask Fans for Money
Other teams beg for taxpayer handouts.
Voters Don't Want To Pay for Your Dumb Stadium
In Albuquerque, Augusta, and Denver, plans to borrow and spend on stadiums got soundly defeated on Election Day.
Corporations Are Getting Rich off Government Aid
"I don't understand why money is leaving my pocket and going into the pocket of somebody who is wealthy."
A Minor League Baseball Bailout Would Be a Major Mistake
Taxpayers already spend millions to build minor league ballparks. Sen. Richard Blumenthal thinks they should financially support the teams, too.
Elon Musk, Welfare King!
The tech billionaire isn't alone among the mega-wealthy in getting piles of money from government at all levels, say the authors of Welfare for the Rich.
These Cities Built Minor League Ballparks With Taxpayer Money. Now They Don't Have Teams To Play in Them.
A reshuffling and reduction of Major League Baseball's feeder system means spending taxpayer money on stadiums looks even more foolish than it was before.
Throw a Billion Dollars From the Helicopter
A tale of ballpark upgrades and wasteful government spending
'Throw a Billion Dollars from the Helicopter' Is a Grand-Slam Attack on Publicly Financed Stadiums
A new documentary chronicles the defeat of a grassroots protest to halt the Texas Rangers' subsidized stadium deal.
Taxpayers Still on the Hook for Stadium Debts, Even Though Coronavirus Canceled Sports
But then, those stadiums weren't likely to bring the growth the cities wanted in the first place.
Governments Splurged on Stadiums and Luxury Hotels Before Coronavirus Shut Them All Down
These subsidies were a bad deal for taxpayers even in good times. In the midst of a global pandemic, they're devastating.
Boise's New Stadium Referendum Requirement Should Be a Model for Other Cities
A proposition approved last week will require a majority of city voters to approve any future stadium project that uses more than $5 million in public money.
Delusional LA Mayor Eric Garcetti Promises $1 Billion Profit on 2028 Olympics
Why do elected officials keep pushing the same damn lies about the economic impact of publicly funded sports events?
Portland's City-Owned Golf Courses a Hot Mess of Deferred Maintenance, Ballooning Pension Costs, and Falling Revenue
Rather than sell its money-losing golf courses, city officials recommend trying to sell more Portlanders on the joys of golf.
Remy: Old Town Road (Lil Nas X & Billy Ray Cyrus Parody)
Making infrastructure funds fun again!
These Three Cities Spent $70 Million on Stadiums to Lure Minor League Baseball Teams. They All Struck Out.
Across the country, minor league teams are exploiting civic enthusiasm for small town sports.
