Professional Sports as Catalysts for Metropolitan Economic Development

TLDR

Cities across the U.S. face the threat of losing professional sports teams or investing heavily in new facilities, prompting large financial subsidies justified on supposed economic benefits. The study asks whether professional sports generate sufficient income and employment to justify the substantial public subsidies cities provide.

Abstract

Cities throughout the United States are facing an unprecedented number of threats from the professional sport teams they host to build new playing facilities or lose the franchise. The recent moves of NFL teams from Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Houston to St. Louis, Oakland, Baltimore, and Nashville, respectively, have given currency to these threats. To attract or retain a team, cities are offering staggering financial support and rationalize their largesse on economic grounds. Do professional sports increase income and create jobs in amounts that justify the behavior of cities? The evidence detailed in this paper fails to support such a rationale. The primary beneficiaries of subsidies are the owners and players, not the taxpaying public.