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Right now the NFL is telling the city of Houston that they need to cough of 50 million dollars to improve Reliant stadium if still want to host next years Superbowl. This is in the same city that is paying at least 5 million dollars a year to simply maintain the old, unused, Astrodome that no one will take responsibility for. A few years ago the Vikings threatened to move (oh god no what a shame it would be to lose such an amazing team....) unless taxpayers footed HALF of the cost for its new 1 billion dollar stadium.

I am sick of this. I enjoy football, but this is absurd. I am tired of struggling municipalities bankrolling stadiums for PRIVATE companies that get to pocket the profits. No other industry operates this way, I think football gets away with it far more than others simply because a lot of people in power like football, it's an American tradition. But so is capitalism. And what we are describing here is god damned communism.

I have no qualms with tax-incentives being used to bring in big business/entertainment, but we still walk away with a net economic gain. The way its done with NFL makes me nauseous to the extreme. If you also want to feel nauseous go ahead and read this article about their sweetheart deals, and state enforced monopoly.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/how-the-nfl-fleeces-taxpayers/309448/

This is no longer a red-blooded American game. This is some red-blooded commie joe nonsense.

The NFL is a non-profit, didn't you know that? And churches are a non-profit. There comes a time when we need to reevaluate non-profit status on businesses and make them pay their fair share.

Churches run food banks and soup kitchens and (generally) run by middle class preachers. The NFL sell 70$ jerseys to poor kids and are are run by billionaires.

Didn't the NFL just announce they were going to stop blacking out undersold games, too?

--Patrick

Dave said:

The NFL is a non-profit, didn't you know that? And churches are a non-profit. There comes a time when we need to reevaluate non-profit status on businesses and make them pay their fair share.

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I actually understand the reasoning behind it. All of the teams are for-profit entities that pay taxes. The NFL gives all of its profits to the teams (which is subsequently taxed).

Looks like John Oliver has picked this up.



And a response/agreement/followup on Yahoo

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-s...-notes-on-stadium-funding-rant-141459136.html


Seriously makes my blood boil the more I think about it. We're stuck with the Astrodome here in Houston and have been footing the bill for it for years. What other business gets away with this nonsense? Its infuriating to me. Corporate welfare at its absolute worst.

Isn't it funny that John Oliver - a comedian from Great Britain - is a better investigative reporter than any we've seen in years? The level of analysis he gives on a specific topic each week is amazing and actually gets shit done.

The idea that Detroit dumped 200 million dollars to pay for a new Redwings stadium, IN THE MIDDLE OF ITS BANKRUPTCY, is apalling to me. They are being asked to sell of priceless works of art to meet their debt obligations. But god forbid we stay in an older stadium or, I dunno, actually pay for it with our own money LIKE ANY OTHER BUSINESS.

God. I'm just. Its so aggravating to me. I hate the Astrodome. I'm not happy with the fact that NRG stadium was 50% public financed. And I am irritated that the first sign of how great the superbowl will be for our city is how the NFL immediately demanded millions of dollars in remodelling. And its only 13 years old.

If I had my way I would tell these teams the same thing we told the Oilers back when they demanded a new stadium at taxpayer expese:

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I think what really gets me, more than anything else, is that this is entirely our fault. We, the electorate, don't care that we are just flushing away money that could be used for so many other things. Cities are going bankrupt left and right and we just throw more money at our sports teams. For the cost of a stadium we could build above grade light rail. Or we could build a world class museum. We could fully fund the pension obligations of the city employees. But no, its the football team that matters. Why doesn't anyone care? Republicans are the real shame here. Of all the political stances they should be vehemently against this. Yet they don't care either.

Necronic said:

I think what really gets me, more than anything else, is that this is entirely our fault. We, the electorate, don't care that we are just flushing away money that could be used for so many other things. Cities are going bankrupt left and right and we just throw more money at our sports teams. For the cost of a stadium we could build above grade light rail. Or we could build a world class museum. We could fully fund the pension obligations of the city employees. But no, its the football team that matters. Why doesn't anyone care?

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Bread and circuses.

But the circuses aren't even free. They cost 100+ dollars a ticket. If they were free, or even cheap, like the museums are, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it. But we pay for them. Some owner gets rich on them. We can't access them? And we like this? Its just...absurd.

What, you think Nero allowed people free access to the field level boxes at the Coliseum?

jwhouk said:

What, you think Nero allowed people free access to the field level boxes at the Coliseum?

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Sure he did. Right before he set fire to the place.

Yeah, I've been following the Bucks bullcrap. I can't believe that things have gotten this messed up with the stadium system.

In Toronto, back when we built the Skydome (where the Blue Jays play) it went way over budget at 600 million . . . but at least (I suppose) it was publicly owned. Until, that is, we sold it for 25 million. Such fucking bullshit.


All of it made worse that immediately after it was built, the trend for stadiums was for a classic look instead of modern or ultra modern, or whatever the heck the Skydome falls under. I do really like the retractable dome, though. It's great for this climate.

For every other business out there, location/building is a significant percentage of their expenses. But not for sports teams?

Bullshit.


The only bigger scam out there for private sports is the Olympics. The IOC gets truckloads of cash for doing basically nothing.

There's an even bigger scam, but it's being dealt with at the present moment: FIFA.

The Olympics is by far the worst. Every time they claim how it will revitalize the town or whatever. It's never worth it for the municipality. I never want to see the Olympics in my city.

The trip to Pluto cost less than the new Vikings stadium.

That's just crazy.

Necronic said:

The Olympics is by far the worst. Every time they claim how it will revitalize the town or whatever. It's never worth it for the municipality. I never want to see the Olympics in my city.

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Although, some countries like China enjoyed the Olympics as a form of "Coming out" party. That being said, Olympics are largely detrimental to the host country.

Everything about the Olympics aside from the actual athletes competing is disgustingly corrupt. Also sometimes the athletes.

Dave said:

The trip to Pluto cost less than the new Vikings stadium.

That's just crazy.

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And they'll find as many superbowl championships in either location.

Necronic said:

And they'll find as many superbowl championships in either location.

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HEYOOOO

I must admit I stole it from reddit.

Necronic said:

I must admit I stole it from Packers fans

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FTFY.

Dave said:

The trip to Pluto cost less than the new Vikings stadium.

That's just crazy.

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But NASA tries to do its work on the cheap.

sixpackshaker said:

But NASA tries to do its work on the cheap.

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Also, NASA passionately cares about Outer Space. The NFL does not care about football. They care about money.

--Patrick

Nice thing about the Packers and being publicly owned- none of this "We may move to L.A." crap.

I bro-fisted, but only because we don't get "move to LA". We do get "we need to buy all the land within a one mile radius of the stadium" stuff, though.

Krisken said:

Nice thing about the Packers and being publicly owned- none of this "We may move to L.A." crap.

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Until you-know-who declares eminent domain and hands it lock, stock, and barrel over to the Koch Brothers.

DarkAudit said:

Until you-know-who declares eminent domain and hands it lock, stock, and barrel over to the Koch Brothers.

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GasBandit said:

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It's the Koch brothers. Do they look like they give a shit?

DarkAudit said:

It's the Koch brothers. Do they look like they give a shit?

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Well, I should say Eminent Domain isn't SUPPOSED to work that way.. it's supposed to make something become public property because it's too important for the public interest not to... but I guess ever since the leftists on the Supreme court decided Kelo vs New London in a horrifically unconstitutional way, there's precedent for doing just what you say. /RIP AMERICA

GasBandit said:

Well, I should say Eminent Domain isn't SUPPOSED to work that way.. it's supposed to make something become public property because it's too important for the public interest not to... but I guess ever since the leftists on the Supreme court decided Kelo vs New London in a horrifically unconstitutional way, there's precedent for doing just what you say. /RIP AMERICA

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I'd better stop now because one party is just that arrogant, and the other just that stupid, and I'd best stop giving them ideas.

See, there's a difference. Giving money to the Bucks = paying for entertainment for Milwaukee liberals. Giving money to the Packers = paying for entertainment for Wisconsin Conservatives (who never actually go into the stadium, because then they'd be forced to rub elbows with the unwashed heathens of the state).

GasBandit said:

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I love that game.