Since 1909, taxpayers have forked over a jaw-dropping $32.2 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars to fund the construction of sports stadiums for the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, according to an article by Reuben Fischer-Baum from deadspin.com. What’s more, 65 of these venues are no longer in use, costing taxpayers a total of $6.6 billion.
Check out this infographic visualizing the dollar amount of public and private finds used for construction and upkeep of stadiums - based on research from a variety of sources including that of Judith Grant Long of Rutgers University.
Public funding of sports venues is certainly not a new concept, and as the costs to build and maintain the venues has increased, taxpayers have had to fork over increasing sums.
In 2007, NTUF published a detailed policy paper examining the escalating costs of stadium construction and the corresponding burden to taxpayers.
For the sake of overtaxed Americans, let’s hope the private sector plays a bigger role in stadium construction in the future, and spares taxpayers the costly price tag.