Who’s Picking Up the Check?
People take great pride in their favorite sports teams. They buy jerseys, hats, merchandise, and memorabilia, and pour their heart and soul into cheering on game days. There are a total of 52 cities in the United States and Canada that have at least one professional sports team. Several have more than one, and 13 cities have at least one team in all the “Big Four” major sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL). No matter how many teams a city has, they all need a venue to host games, a place where fans can gather and root for their team. Stadiums are a crucial aspect of a team’s identity, and they have become more elaborate and luxurious than ever before. As the complexities of stadiums has increased, so has the debate over whether or not taxpayers should be the ones to foot the bill for billionaire owners’ grand designs for a stadium. Owners essentially have the ability to hold a city “hostage” when it comes to getting a new stadium or making renovations, the threat of relocating a team always being the ultimate trump card.
Professional sports teams are worth a lot of money. The average value of an NFL franchise is $3.5 billion. MLB teams are worth $2.07 billion, NBA teams $2.58 billion, and the average value for an NHL team is $865 million. SoFi Stadium, home of the Rams and Chargers, was the host of the most recent Super Bowl. It opened in 2020 and though the exact price tag is not known, it is estimated that it cost around $5 billion to build. Stan Kroenke, owner of the Rams, got the stadium built with no public funding, he picked up the check himself. But there’s a reason the stadium had to be built in the first place. The Rams played in St. Louis from 1995 until 2015. Kroenke wanted to upgrade the Rams’ playing facility, and after a battle with the city, he ultimately decided to move the team to Los Angeles. St. Louis ended up suing Kroenke citing that, “the move cost the St. Louis region millions of dollars in amusement, ticket, and earnings tax”. A $790 million dollar settlement in favor of St. Louis was reached this past fall. The city of Oakland is headed towards a similar situation with their MLB franchise the Athletics. The team wants a new stadium, but the city is unwilling to foot the majority of the bill, and so there are talks of relocating the team. The Athletics used to share a stadium with the NFL’s Raiders. The Raiders ended up moving to Las Vegas, where they built a brand-new state-of-the-art stadium. The cost was estimated at $2 billion, and the team received a record amount of $750 million in public funding.
The NFL has been the subject of the stadium debate for almost two decades, and it only increases. The Chicago Bears purchased the old Arlington racetrack, and although ownership has kept their lips sealed, many believe they plan to build a new stadium and leave their current home of Soldier Field. A stadium that was built for $10 million in 1934, then renovated at a cost of $365 million in 2003, funded 100% by the public in both cases.
While the Bears may build a new stadium, the Buffalo Bills are getting a new stadium for sure. It will be the 19th new NFL stadium built since 2000 and will be the 8th in a row that costs over a billion dollars. Three of those stadiums were entirely privately funded, while taxpayers contributed a combined $7.3 billion to help build the other 16. The Bills will certainly not be the last team that builds a brand-new stadium in the NFL. When the time comes for the next team to build, the question remains the same for owners and taxpayers: Who is picking up the check?
Sources
Ozanian, Mike. “The NFL’s Most Valuable Teams 2021: Average Team Value Soars to $3.5 Billion as League Shrugs off Pandemic Year.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Aug. 2021, https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2021/08/05/the-nfls-most-valuable-teams-2021-average-team-value-soars-to-35-billion-as-league-shrugs-off-pandemic-year/.
Press, Associated. “$790m Settlement Reached in Lawsuit over Rams’ St. Louis Departure.” NFL.com, NFL, 24 Nov. 2021, https://www.nfl.com/news/790m-settlement-reached-in-lawsuit-over-rams-st-louis-departure.
Schad, Tom. “Bills’ New Stadium Deal Resurfaces Puzzling Question: Why Do Owners Get Taxpayer Money to Build Venues?” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 31 Mar. 2022, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2022/03/31/nfl-stadiums-taxpayer-funded-buffalo-bills/7217852001/.
Wednesday, Ryan Sharp |. “How Was Your Stadium, Arena or Ballpark Funded?” Global Sport Matters, 22 May 2019, https://globalsportmatters.com/business/2019/05/22/who-paid-for-your-stadium/.
