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Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team

reuters.com

51–60 of 290 posts

Re: Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team

#51
post #34

https://www.kansascityfed.org/~/media/files/publicat/econrev... "So does it makes sense for metro areas to use public funds to attract and retain major league sports franchises? The answer is definitely not if benefits are limited to increases in economic activity and tax revenue collection. A strong case can be made, however, that the quality-of-life benefits from hosting a major league team can sometimes justify th…

That report or whatever it is is really low quality. I just read the "How hosting a professional sports team contributes to quality of life" (page 71) section, and it reads like a middle schooler's homework.

It is devoid of facts and has questionable logic and very questionable conclusions. Honestly it is junk.

Essentially their entire quality of life argument boils down to "BUT SPORTS ARE AWESOME!!!" then just pull random dollar figures out of thin air and attach them to how awesome it is for fans to enjoy watching sports (????).

Re: Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team

#52

The Green Bay packers have an interesting approach to this problem, although it requires a fanatical fan base and special ownership provisions, and the fact that the team can't leave Green Bay (without a vote by the shareholders, who are all fans, which will never, ever, happen). When they want to improve their stadium, they issue stock and sell more season tickets. This works because Packers stock cannot be sold or…

Well, it's a good thing they've locked in a team, because no one in their right mind would build one in Green Bay Wisconsin today when there are fools in warmer climates literally throwing money at anyone who will move a team.

Re: Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team

#54

The Green Bay packers have an interesting approach to this problem, although it requires a fanatical fan base and special ownership provisions, and the fact that the team can't leave Green Bay (without a vote by the shareholders, who are all fans, which will never, ever, happen). When they want to improve their stadium, they issue stock and sell more season tickets. This works because Packers stock cannot be sold or…

Most was actually covered by a sales tax: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/money/2015/09/29/l...

Re: Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team

#55

The Green Bay packers have an interesting approach to this problem, although it requires a fanatical fan base and special ownership provisions, and the fact that the team can't leave Green Bay (without a vote by the shareholders, who are all fans, which will never, ever, happen). When they want to improve their stadium, they issue stock and sell more season tickets. This works because Packers stock cannot be sold or…

The NFL changed the ownership rules, and the Green Bay model cannot be repeated elsewhere.

"The NFL does not allow corporate membership. Instead, it requires clubs to be wholly owned either by a single owner, or small group of owners, and requires that at least one owner owns a 1/3 stake in the team. The Packers are granted an exemption to this rule, as they have been a publicly owned corporation since before the rule was in place."

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers_Board_of_Dir...

Re: Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team

#56
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why it exists as a popular sport anyways, it's 5 seconds of action followed by 30 seconds of two guys talking about it. The average football game has 11 minutes of action[1]. Everything but the last ~8 minutes of the 4th quarter is boring. Yet Americans love it. I don't get it. [1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240527487042812045750028...

The social aspect can't be ignored. Football is typically held up as the quintessential American sport in many regions of the country. Those who don't proclaim their interest or love for it do so at the risk of being seen as outsiders and potentially treated as outcasts. This starts at a very early age for many Americans due to the close ties between the education systems and football programs. Starting while they're…

I think you nailed it.

"They can be seen as a form of religion, in some sense."

In my family it was Sunday School with mom and then football with Grandpa and Dad.

Football is kind of like drinking...even if you don't like it at some point it is easier to just pretend and fit in.

Re: Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team

#57
post #47
post #35

I am from Europe and this looks almost surreal for me. It is unheard of here that team simply packs players and go to other city. Sport culture and sport business so different in USA.

[deleted]

I always wonder why people from Europe always use "As a European" to preface smug comments, there's got to be a sociology study there.

I mean, it's pretty necessary for the context of what the OP is saying. Americans say "As an American" less often because they just assume everyone is an American in the first place. I'm not sure that's better and, come on, it's not like Americans aren't capable of smugness now, is it?

Anyway, you guys have almost exactly the same behavior in UEFA teams

Do they? I'm certainly not aware of any, and the lack of franchising makes the whole situation different (a team will very, very rarely ever move city. It's basically unheard of).

And yes, I agree the original comment was flippant. But citing fan racism in soccer isn't exactly raising the tone either.

Re: Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team

#58

The Green Bay packers have an interesting approach to this problem, although it requires a fanatical fan base and special ownership provisions, and the fact that the team can't leave Green Bay (without a vote by the shareholders, who are all fans, which will never, ever, happen). When they want to improve their stadium, they issue stock and sell more season tickets. This works because Packers stock cannot be sold or…

>without a vote by the shareholders, who are all fans Doesn't the German football team system work like this too? I think it at least does for Bayern.

Yep! The club/members have to own >50% of the club to compete in the German pro leagues

In the past, private ownership wasn't even allowed but that changed in the 90s.

Even cooler, the 2 largest football clubs on earth, Real Madrid & Barcelona are completely fan owned. They even vote for the presidency of the club! So refreshing compared to American sports, though without a salary cap their competitions are 1000x more predictable & boring. (ex. RM won their league match on Sunday 6-0, and Barca just won today 7-0)

Re: Why a city should not build a stadium for an NFL team

#60
post #18

Between the scam of municipalities losing so much $$ on stadiums, how the stadiums cause urban blight sitting empty most of the time then causing major traffic headaches the other times, and the CTE injury rate, I can't fathom how football still exists today as a popular sport. Seems like the whole thing is a house of cards that needs to collapse.

I don't understand why it exists as a popular sport anyways, it's 5 seconds of action followed by 30 seconds of two guys talking about it. The average football game has 11 minutes of action[1]. Everything but the last ~8 minutes of the 4th quarter is boring. Yet Americans love it. I don't get it. [1] http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240527487042812045750028...

As someone who recently moved to the US, should I first try to learn about American football, or about baseball?
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