A vast body of economic research on the impact of sports stadiums suggests that the proposed Jets Stadium on Manhattan?s West Side, now estimated to cost $1.925 billion ? more than three times the cost of any other NFL stadium ? will not generate significant net economic or fiscal benefits. Most studies find that new sports stadiums do not increase employment or incomes, and sometimes have a modest negative effect on local economies. The reason appears to be that sports stadiums do not increase overall entertainment spending but merely shift it from other entertainment venues to the stadium.
Rather than providing economic revitalization for an underutilized area, the proposed football stadium would occupy four blocks of prime waterfront land along the Hudson River. Three of these blocks are owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). An appraisal commissioned by the MTA estimates its property alone is worth $923 million. Yet, under political pressure, the MTA has accepted the Jets? bid of $250 million and turned down a competing bid of over $400 million. The MTA?s below-market sale is a public subsidy of at least $150 million. The MTA itself already receives hundreds of millions of dollars in annual taxpayer subsidies, which makes it an even more inappropriate vehicle for funneling subsidies to millionaire Jets stakeholders.
In addition, the State and City each plan on providing direct subsidies of $300 million. Payments in lieu of real property taxes and sales taxes on construction materials that are normally collected by the City and State will be used to service an additional $450 million of tax-exempt bonds for the stadium. The stadium will also be exempt from mortgage recording taxes. Lastly, the City and the State will pay for improvements: $30 million for a pedestrian tunnel connecting the stadium to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and $66 million for a lobby, game porch, and other spaces physically connected to and servicing the stadium.
These massive subsidies are both unnecessary for economic development and very inappropriate given that New York City and State already place heavy tax burdens upon their citizens. Economically speaking, these subsidies, along with the additional tax burdens and/or opportunity costs they would place upon taxpayers, are unwise.
* Institutions are listed for informational purposes only.Sincerely,
Donald L. Alexander Western Michigan University | Charles W. Baird California State University - East Bay | |
Doug Bandow American Legislative Exchange Council | John H. Beck Gonzaga University | |
James T. Bennett George Mason University | John E. Berthoud George Washington University | |
Elizabeth C. Bogan Princeton University | Michele Boldrin University of Minnesota | |
Samuel Bostaph University of Dallas | Donald J. Boudreaux George Mason University | |
Scott Bradford Brigham Young University | Wayne Brough FreedomWorks | |
David P. Brown University of Wisconsin - Madison | John Bryant Rice University | |
Steven Call Metropolitan State College of Denver | John S. Chipman University of Minnesota | |
Barry R. Chiswick University of Illinois - Chicago | Gregory Chow Princeton University | |
Lawrence R. Cima John Carroll University | Dennis Coates University of Maryland - Baltimore | |
R. Morris Coats Nicholls State University | John P. Cochran Metropolitan State College of Denver | |
Lloyd Cohen George Mason University | Susan Dadres Southern Methodist University | |
Donald R. Davis Columbia University | Gregory J. Delemeester Marietta College | |
Jeffrey Dorfman University of Georgia | Dennis Ellis The University of Michigan - Flint | |
Bert Ely Ely & Company, Inc. | Paul Evans The Ohio State University | |
Arthur A. Fleisher III Metropolitan State College of Denver | Fred Foldvary Santa Clara University | |
Micah Frankel California State University - East Bay | Kenneth R. French Dartmouth College | |
Dave Garthoff The University of Akron | David E.R. Gay University of Arkansas | |
Otis W. Gilley Louisiana Tech University | Peter Gordon University of Southern California | |
Richard L. Gordon Pennsylvania State University | Kenneth V. Greene Binghamton University | |
James Gwartney Florida State University | David D. Haddock Northwestern University | |
Dennis Halcoussis California State University - Northridge | David R. Henderson Hoover Institution | |
Robert Stanley Herren North Dakota State University | Bill Huneke Professional Economist Member, American Economic Association | |
Steven J. Jordan Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | Raymond J. Keating Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council | |
William Kern Western Michigan University | Daniel Klein George Mason University | |
Richard N. Langlois The University of Connecticut | Robert A. Lawson Capital University | |
Stan Liebowitz University of Texas - Dallas | Yuri N. Maltsev Carthage College | |
Deryl W. Martin Tennessee Technological University | John Merrifield The University of Texas at San Antonio | |
Harry Messenheimer Rio Grande Foundation | Matt Metzgar Mount Union College | |
Roy Miller Fire Privatization Consultants | Tracy Miller Grove City College | |
James Mintert Kansas State University | Jeffrey Miron Harvard University | |
Dan Mitchell The Heritage Foundation | John C. Moorhouse Wake Forest University | |
Michael C. Munger Duke University | Richard F. Muth Emory University | |
Lee E. Ohanian University of California - Los Angeles | David J. O'Hara Metropolitan State University | |
James B. O'Neill University of Delaware | Alexandre Padilla Metropolitan State College of Denver | |
Judd W. Patton Bellevue University | Mattias Polborn University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign | |
Joe Pomykala Towson University | Barry Poulson University of Colorado | |
W. Robert Reed University of Oklahoma | Timothy Roth University of Texas - El Paso | |
Charles K. Rowley George Mason University | Mark Rush University of Florida | |
Michael Saliba Loyola University - New Orleans | Raymond D. Sauer Clemson University | |
Roger A. Sedjo Resources for the Future | Carlos Seiglie Rutgers University | |
John Semmens Laissez Faire Institute | Rich Shields The Keller Graduate School of Management | |
Stephen Shmanske California State University - East Bay | William F. Shughart II The University of Mississippi | |
Neil T. Skaggs Illinois State University | James F. Smith University of North Carolina | |
Vernon L. Smith George Mason University 2002 Nobel Laureate in Economics | Stan Spurlock Mississippi State University | |
Mark Steckbeck Hillsdale College | Frank Stephenson Berry College | |
Courtenay C. Stone Ball State University | Ren? M. Stulz The Ohio State University | |
Leo Troy Rutgers University | John T. Warner Clemson University | |
John T. Wenders University of Idaho | Robert Whaples Wake Forest University | |
James B. Whisker West Virginia University | John Wicks University of Montana | |
Larry T. Wimmer Brigham Young University | Wayne Winegarden Marymount University | |
Gary Wolfram Hillsdale College | Tom Wyrick Southwest Missouri State University | |
Andrew Zimbalist Smith College | Benjamin Zycher Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy |