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Does this even make sense?

• HamdenPro 2,410 Posts

  Thu, Mar 31 2022 8:03 AM

  The State of New York is giving $850,000,000 to the Buffalo Bills football organization, in taxpayer's funds for a new stadium.  This is the biggest pro sports subsidy of all time.

  Meanwhile, just a few days ago, New York announced a $800,000,000 cut to children and family services.

  The owner of the Bills is worth $5.8 Billion. Thats a ****load of balls!!!

• callaghan159 6,220 Posts

  Thu, Mar 31 2022 8:43 AM

  Rich get richer and the poor get poorer...won't be long Putin will be asking the USA for help in his war to defeat Ukraine.

• ct690911 7,195 Posts

  Thu, Mar 31 2022 9:09 AM

  If memory serves, the Green Bay Packers are the only publicly owned team in the NFL. Any investment in them is shared by all. The other teams are privately owned and rich owners asking for dole-outs is common place. We have the same problem here in Canada with the pro hockey teams.

• HamdenPro 2,410 Posts

  Thu, Mar 31 2022 9:49 AM

  ct690911:

  Any investment in them is shared by all. The other teams are privately owned and rich owners asking for dole-outs is common place

  I get that the owners look for "dole-outs", and I fully understand the potential revenues a pro sports team can have on a city by way of jobs and work for local vendors, etc...

  My problem is with the fact that they cut over $8 million from publicly funded social programs (for children and families) while spending more than that in taxpayer's money to help subsidize a new stadium. I sincerely doubt they are going to convert the old stadium to subsidized housing, yet the team gets a subsidized home.

  I guess, I have no problem when I can't afford my taxes, or put gas in my car, at least I got tickets and a new seat cushion.

  Gotta to love bureaucratic prioritizing.

  EDIT: We need Hoperman!!

• PureGro1 1,655 Posts

  Thu, Mar 31 2022 10:23 AM

  HamdenPro:

  they cut over $8 million from publicly funded social programs (for children and families) while spending more than that in taxpayer's money

  

   

• HamdenPro 2,410 Posts

  Thu, Mar 31 2022 10:46 AM

  ⬆ ⬆ ⬆

  @PureGro1

  Are you suggesting we reduce the Federal Military Budget to subsidize the Buffalo Bills new football stadium?!? 😁  Vundabar!!!

   

• Cicero733 2,293 Posts

  Thu, Mar 31 2022 10:52 AM

  On a smaller scale, I have the same situation where I live. Some years ago an enterprising individual bought a minor league team and moved them here to play baseball in an existing stadium. No one thought it would work. It worked so well that a couple of our leading local entrepreneurs wanted a cut of the action. They arranged the purchase of a Pittsburgh Pirates minor league franchise. They hyped all the economic benefits a team like this would bring to the area. They only had two stipulations - the first minor league team must go and a new stadium with seating capacity in the thousands must be built. First stipulation, no problem. City fathers found some outdated codes and ordinances that they specifically applied to the first team while granting an exemption to the second team. First team has to pack up and leave. The building of the stadium was a different issue. Law says you can’t use tax payer money for projects in which one individual will benefit as opposed to all tax payers. There was a lot of discussion, but no resolution until some bright guy suggested throwing the project into the state government’s hands. They didn’t want the project either, but they ran into a problem with our city fathers who started a campaign highlighting the fact that the state government was denying the local population of all the economic benefits a minor league team would bring. Eventually, state government relented and granted some kind of exemption to our local government allowing them to use tax payer dollars to build a stadium. So millions were invested, the minor league team moved in, everybody was happy. Except, several years down the road the team owner wanted a new field installed, several million dollars worth of field. He was told to go ahead and put in the field. He said he would, but the locals must pay for it. Seems the contract that was originally drawn up stipulated that the county, after building the stadium, would assume responsibility for all maintenance costs. So the team owner gets all revenue associated with any of the games and a free stadium and the right to make any and all needed maintenance, repairs, whatever at tax payer expense. The county receives no income from the stadium or team other then some obscure “occupancy tax” which is like $10.00 per year and the tax payers get a tax increase every so often to pay for the expenses of the team and the maintenance of the stadium. Oh, yeah, they periodically tell us we get the benefit of watching the games after paying an admission fee and we have the $8.00 hotdogs and $12.00 8 oz cups of beer to enjoy (all revenue for which is turned over to the team owner).And lastly, although the stadium is owned by the county, the county signed over all management rights of the stadium to the team owner who immediately announced that nobody other than his team would be permitted to use the field.

• HamdenPro 2,410 Posts

  Thu, Mar 31 2022 11:20 AM

  Cicero733:

  On a smaller scale

  How is that smaller scale? Its the longest post in this thread! 😛

  As for the content, that is a crazy story but typical of municipal government. You forgot to mention that the grandchildren of the "founding fathers" run the local hot dog packaging plant and the local State representative owns the local beer distribution facility.

  Further, your Representative in the U.S. Congress obtained funds, for your state, as an add on to Federal Disaster Relief Legislation, which was used in connection with the construction of the stadium, and the General Contractor performing the work was the Congressperson's spouse.

  Finally, the team is horrible to boot and has been last in the league for years!! So, ultimately they will leave and the property can never be used for anything else since the contractor disposed of hazardous materials, under the grass, when the new field was installed contaminating it forever.

  So, let me ask, in the spirit of this thread.. DOES THIS EVEN MAKE SENSE?  !!

• Cicero733 2,293 Posts

  Thu, Mar 31 2022 11:47 AM

  Yeah that’s pretty much it, except for one other nugget I forgot, but was reminded of. In an effort to generate something positive from the stadium, county held a “Name the Stadium” raffle. For 10 large you could have the stadium named after you, your company, your horse, whatever. Somebody bit, paid the fee, and got his company’s name up in lights. Team owner promptly dunned the County 10,000 for revenue that was rightly his as it was generated as a direct result of his team being here. After much discussion and delay, the money was turned over.

• PureGro1 1,655 Posts

  Fri, Apr 1 2022 7:04 AM

  HamdenPro:

  ⬆ ⬆ ⬆

  @PureGro1

  Are you suggesting we reduce the Federal Military Budget to subsidize the Buffalo Bills new football stadium?!? 😁  Vundabar!!!

   

  Im a Libertarian, dont get me started on taxes and guberment.