Report: Public funding for stadiums not worth it for taxpayers

(The Center Square) – As the Chicago Bears and White Sox lobby for public funding for new stadiums, a new report shows that it is likely a bad deal for taxpayers.

The Bears are proposing a $4.7 billion domed stadium with the public covering around half of the amount. The team is still focused on a downtown location for a new stadium, but conversations continue between team officials and Arlington Heights where the Bears own over 300 acres of land.

Team officials said the project would boast over $8 billion in regional construction economic impact, a $456 million annual economic impact after construction, the creation of 43,000 regional construction jobs and 4,200 permanent jobs.

The Bears have also floated the idea of sharing a stadium with the White Sox.

Adam Hoffer, director of excise tax policy with the Tax Foundation, said history shows repeatedly that stadium subsidies fail to generate new tax revenue and jobs or attract new businesses.

“In terms of what a taxpayer gets for that investment, the answer is they get sports teams but not much else,” Hoffer told The Center Square. “The economic returns, like your tangible economic activity, there just wasn’t much found in the research.”

Hoffer points to an instance in Washington when the Seattle Supersonics NBA team left town because the city would not give them a new stadium, real estate values then went up.

The report said for stadium subsidies to yield a net positive benefit for taxpayers, the intangible benefits must outweigh the subsidy costs. However, when researchers survey residents about their willingness to pay to assist a sports team, the results suggest that stadium subsidies are still too large.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has said it would be near impossible for a Bears stadium funding bill to get through the state legislature this fall.

“Taxpayer dollars are precious and so the question really is what benefit financially are they bringing fiscally to the state, the city and the county,” said Pritzker.