Wednesday, July 13, 2011

The Price of Keeping a Sports Franchise...

I love sports. I just wanted to make that clear. What I don't love is how the public is forced to pay for the privilege of having a sports team. The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article about the high costs the residents of Hamilton County are paying for the privilege of keeping the Reds and Bengals in Cincinnati. It sure is something to think about as we listen to billionaire owners argue over money with millionaire players during the football lockout.

Let's be honest--what does the average fan get out of having a local professional football team? Bragging rights over having a home team? And if they suck then what? We always hear about how much money a sports franchise brings to a community, but what about how much they take? With public financing of new stadiums and tax breaks on revenue what do they really contribute? Sure some local restaurants and bars get extra business during the season, but does that really offset what we lose out as a whole on taxes?

Again I love sports. And love to watch to watch them. Still, at some point we have to ask ourselves at what cost is it worth to keep our teams? And are we really prepared to pay it?

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