# Why do taxpayers always get stuck with the bill for arenas? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-taxpayers-always-get-stuck-with-the-bill-for-arenas/754643 "2016-05-12T22:37:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-taxpayers-always-get-stuck-with-the-bill-for-arenas/754643/1 "2016-05-12T22:37:07Z")
Sports teams are private businesses, and should just pay for their own facilities. Here in Portland, the Pirates left town, and the Cumberland County taxpayers now have to foot the bill for the arena. [Taxpayers Spent $34 Million on a Minor League Hockey Arena. Two Years Later, The Team is Leaving](http://reason.com/blog/2016/05/09/taxpayers-spent-34-million-hockey-arena) Why does this always happen? It very rarely if ever works out in the favor of anyone but the team’s owners. You would think officials would have caught on by now. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-taxpayers-always-get-stuck-with-the-bill-for-arenas/754643/2 "2016-05-12T22:51:46Z")
Up until recently, fans wanted the teams, so the politicians went along. They also justified it by claiming it would help the economy (the numbers were clearly overstated from the start). Now more people are walking up and questioning the need. Teams are sometimes forced to pay for them (though the city has to pay for infrastructure upgrades). ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-taxpayers-always-get-stuck-with-the-bill-for-arenas/754643/3 "2016-05-12T22:53:07Z")
Because the the city bureaucrats think that it’s good for the city. I generally think the way you do - that it’s a private enterprise, and they should pay for it, but there is an argument to be made that it’s partially infrastructure that enhances the general living experience. We had a bureaucrat get shot in the butt for it one time… > [@](#): > > A county supervisor was shot and wounded by a man who said he was angry over her support of a baseball stadium tax. Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox was shot outside the auditorium where the five-member governing board had just met. She was hospitalized in fair condition with a gunshot wound to her pelvis. The gunman told reporters after his arrest that he shot Wilcox because she supported a sales tax to help pay for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ ballpark, now being built in downtown Phoenix. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-taxpayers-always-get-stuck-with-the-bill-for-arenas/754643/4 "2016-05-12T23:47:31Z")
The same reason that a lot of other special interests get funded heavily. The number of people who like the idea is in the minority, but they are very vocal because it has a high perceived value to them. The majority of people are opposed, but it only affect each person relatively less, so they don’t get as worked up about it. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-taxpayers-always-get-stuck-with-the-bill-for-arenas/754643/5 "2016-05-13T01:33:39Z")
I’ll go with the perception that having a home team is always good for the community. It isn’t in most cases but you will have a long search finding a politician who can turn the proposal down. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-taxpayers-always-get-stuck-with-the-bill-for-arenas/754643/6 "2016-05-13T08:09:03Z")
Oh boy… Try reading [this](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/16/sports/football/st-louis-should-be-glad-it-lost-the-rams.html?_r=0), and [then this.](http://www.leagueoffans.org/2015/06/10/q-a-with-roger-noll/) Yes, Gentle Reader… read it and weep. Ignorance defeated?