Source 1 (The Atlantic/Rick Paulas)
The Oakland stadium called The Coliseum lured the Raiders back to Oakland in 1994 in
part by promising to renovate. When that bill is finally paid off in 2025, it will have cost
Alameda County and Oakland $350
has skyrocketed from $351 million in 2001 to $2.38 billion in 2017 an almost fivefold increase
District is cutting up to 340 jobs for the 2019 20 school year, and the city has to rely on outside
spending to cover the mostly inadequate shelter it provides its homeless population.
Hosting a professional sports franchise has legitimate public benefits. Strangers at a bar
can commiserate about a loss, and a championship
Leeds, a professor of economics at Temple University. But these benefits are intangible, so city
leaders often look to positive economic impact to justify local sports instead.
Imagine a stadium as a giant drain. Money flows from the community into the stadium,
where it whirls around for a bit, then funnels down some murky pipes, exiting far, far away.
Some leaves with players, some with owners and ownership groups, some with the league itself,
the headquarters of which are in New York. That last leakage is similar to when you shop at a
s and
Sure, some of the money will stay local, thanks to the new economic activity that a
up in an underused part of town around a new stadium. But even then, the economic impact can
nts tend to spend their money in the new
geographical location rather than another one around town.
In 2016, when San Francisco hosted the Super Bowl, the city paid to reroute cars and
Muni buses, to fund police overtime for security, and for sanitation workers to clean it all up. In
all, the city spent an estimated $9.6 million. Whether it made that money back is heavily
r Jane Kim, who was outspoken against this deal at the
Yet, they do, for one-time parties and longtime drains. And, usually, city-dwellers in big
sports towns are
-set that pits cities against
one another, resulting in a humiliating race to the bottom. But is there any way to shift power to
the cities, and their citizens?
Source 2 (City of Fort Myers Government)
Source 3
Joseph Randle
If we build a new stadium think of the economic impact it could have on not only our
city, but also our county and region! First, building the facility creates construction jobs. Second,
people who attend games or work for the team generate new spending in the community,
expanding local employment. Third, a team attracts tourists and companies to the host city,
as increased local income causes still more new spending and job creation. Advocates argue that
new stadiums spur so much economic growth that they are self-financing: subsidies are offset by
revenues from ticket taxes, sales taxes on concessions and other spending outside the stadium,
and property tax
Tina Wolf
The stadiums have not created the local impact that they promised. To understand why,
$700
million of which was paid by local taxpayers. While proponents may talk about a multiplier
effect, several theoretical and empirical studies of local economic impact of stadiums have
shown that beliefs that stadiums have an impact that matches the amount of money that residents
pay are largely unfounded. The average stadium generates $145 million per year, but none of this
revenue goes back into the community. As such, the prevalent idea among team owners of
ful and unfair to people who are forced
to pay for a stadium that will not help them.
Source 4 (Washington Post)
Name: ______________________________________________________________________ Period:___
1. In source 1, how does the author support his thesis that cities use money on stadiums that can be
better spent elsewhere? [4 sentences]
2. In source 2, how has the two new Spring Training stadiums impacted Fort Myers tourism?
[2 sentences]
3. Study source 3 in the reading
"people who attend games or work for the team generate new spending in the community, expanding
How could you test this claim? You should consider the types of information, sources of evidence or
methods you might use. [8 sentences]
4. Identify 1 local consequence of the construction of stadiums and 1 national consequences of the
construction of stadiums based upon the sources. [4 sentences]
Local Consequence:
National Consequence:
percentage?
[1 sentence]
6. Whose writing is more convincing whether stadiums are good or bad
Your answer should consider both sides and you should support your point of view with their words.
You should also consider:
the strength of their reasoning and evidence
their use of language
the different types of information used.
[10 sentences]
7. A local city is attempting to lure a sports team to relocate to them. This would require that they build
a new stadium. The people of the city strive to have a pro team call them home but other fear the cost.
The mayor asked 3 different action teams on how to best build the stadium. These 3 are listed below.
Build the stadium in the residential area with majority public funds which can be started quickly.
Build the stadium in the industrial part of town with some public but mainly private funds which
will also increase the construction time.
Refuse to build the stadium and refuse to become the home of the sports team.
Which one of these actions would you recommend to the mayor, and why?
In your answer, you should:
state your recommendation
give reasons to support your choice
use the material in the sources and any of your own ideas
consider different arguments and perspectives.
[20 sentences]
