Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Tax-free stadium plan? Beware

San Diegans should cock an eyebrow at claims being made

Two cheers for former San Diego City Council member Carl DeMaio spearheading a plan to build a Chargers stadium without tapping tax money. Such a plan would be welcome, but San Diegans should cock an eyebrow at claims being made. DeMaio and his colleagues released a 41-page pitch for such a project today (June 23).

Here are some factors to eye warily:

  1. Most National Football League owners are billionaires and teams are worth more than $1 billion. But plans such as the one released today have fans buying into the stadium, not the team. Stadiums are not inherently profitable. Why do you think billionaire owners want taxpayers to pay for stadiums? Teams are extremely profitable. A piece of a stadium would probably be a poor investment.

    Sponsored
    Sponsored
  2. To woo potential investors, promoters will claim the new stadium will be used for Super Bowls, NCAA basketball tournaments, rock concerts, banquets, etc. But this pitch was made for Petco Park, too, and the result has not been impressive. Super Bowls and NCAA tournament hostings are always trotted out in such marketing plans.

  3. Promoters will claim that growing stadium attendance, more hot dogs gobbled, more jobs for vendors and the like will boost the local economy. Not so. Money spent on these new activities will not be spent elsewhere in the local economy. If more people eat hot dogs and drink beer at the stadium, hot dog stands and saloons will lose the equivalent amount of business. Sports stadiums do not create new money or demand.

  4. One scam that almost always arises when a taxpayer-financed facility is being promoted is the concealment of taxpayer costs. Example: Dallas is proposing a new baseball stadium that, city fathers claim, will be a 50-50 split between taxpayers and the team. But a local TV station has said that taxpayers will get stuck with 80 percent of the cost, because of tricky accounting in fine print. Generally speaking, taxpayers pick up 70 to 80 percent of stadium costs, but are always told that their share will be much less.

  5. DeMaio claims that the new stadium will lead to more transient occupancy tax receipts because a new hotel will be built. But fans from out of town are not likely to follow their teams to San Diego. Last year was an aberration when fans from Boston and Pittsburgh came to San Diego to root for their teams. That was caused by San Diegans' disinterest in going to the games — something that should be sobering in any reflection on the need for a new stadium. Generally, hotels do not profit from the nearness of a stadium.

  6. DeMaio and his cohorts say retail sales tax receipts will rise. Yes, they will — at the stadium. But because of the substitution effect, they will be weaker elsewhere.

  7. Beware of comparisons with the 49ers stadium in Silicon Valley. It was greatly financed by rich citizens buying personal seat licenses. But Silicon Valley is an extremely rich area. San Diego can't match it. In 2011 and in subsequent years, the Chargers said they didn't think personal seat licenses would work in San Diego.

  8. Beware of comparisons with Green Bay. Citizens there own the team. But the Packers were grandfathered into the league on that point. The NFL would not permit this to occur elsewhere.

There are other caveats — this is the beginning.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pet pig perches in pocket

Escondido doula gets a taste of celebrity
Next Article

Not enough Readers in Mission Beach

Mayor Todd Gloria's skin color

Two cheers for former San Diego City Council member Carl DeMaio spearheading a plan to build a Chargers stadium without tapping tax money. Such a plan would be welcome, but San Diegans should cock an eyebrow at claims being made. DeMaio and his colleagues released a 41-page pitch for such a project today (June 23).

Here are some factors to eye warily:

  1. Most National Football League owners are billionaires and teams are worth more than $1 billion. But plans such as the one released today have fans buying into the stadium, not the team. Stadiums are not inherently profitable. Why do you think billionaire owners want taxpayers to pay for stadiums? Teams are extremely profitable. A piece of a stadium would probably be a poor investment.

    Sponsored
    Sponsored
  2. To woo potential investors, promoters will claim the new stadium will be used for Super Bowls, NCAA basketball tournaments, rock concerts, banquets, etc. But this pitch was made for Petco Park, too, and the result has not been impressive. Super Bowls and NCAA tournament hostings are always trotted out in such marketing plans.

  3. Promoters will claim that growing stadium attendance, more hot dogs gobbled, more jobs for vendors and the like will boost the local economy. Not so. Money spent on these new activities will not be spent elsewhere in the local economy. If more people eat hot dogs and drink beer at the stadium, hot dog stands and saloons will lose the equivalent amount of business. Sports stadiums do not create new money or demand.

  4. One scam that almost always arises when a taxpayer-financed facility is being promoted is the concealment of taxpayer costs. Example: Dallas is proposing a new baseball stadium that, city fathers claim, will be a 50-50 split between taxpayers and the team. But a local TV station has said that taxpayers will get stuck with 80 percent of the cost, because of tricky accounting in fine print. Generally speaking, taxpayers pick up 70 to 80 percent of stadium costs, but are always told that their share will be much less.

  5. DeMaio claims that the new stadium will lead to more transient occupancy tax receipts because a new hotel will be built. But fans from out of town are not likely to follow their teams to San Diego. Last year was an aberration when fans from Boston and Pittsburgh came to San Diego to root for their teams. That was caused by San Diegans' disinterest in going to the games — something that should be sobering in any reflection on the need for a new stadium. Generally, hotels do not profit from the nearness of a stadium.

  6. DeMaio and his cohorts say retail sales tax receipts will rise. Yes, they will — at the stadium. But because of the substitution effect, they will be weaker elsewhere.

  7. Beware of comparisons with the 49ers stadium in Silicon Valley. It was greatly financed by rich citizens buying personal seat licenses. But Silicon Valley is an extremely rich area. San Diego can't match it. In 2011 and in subsequent years, the Chargers said they didn't think personal seat licenses would work in San Diego.

  8. Beware of comparisons with Green Bay. Citizens there own the team. But the Packers were grandfathered into the league on that point. The NFL would not permit this to occur elsewhere.

There are other caveats — this is the beginning.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Yo-Yo Ma, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky come to San Diego

Next Article

Gonzo Report: Stinkfoot Orchestra conjures Zappa at Winstons

His music is a blend of technical excellence and not-so-subtle humor
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.