4 ms·

" Stadiums add little or nothing to the local economy." I think that AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX) may be a good example of one that's helped. One article from

" Stadiums add little or nothing to the local economy." I think that AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX) may be a good example of one that's helped. One article from 2015 says "WrestleMania — the Super Bowl of pro wrestling — is coming to Arlington’s AT&T Stadium in April, and it could pack a financial wallop for local businesses." The new Rangers stadium nearby has benefited, and so has nearby Six Flags & Hurricane Harbor. The new Arlington entertainment district and local businesses have been picked up as well. It feels like the whole area has improved.

TulliusCicero 8y ago
Was that because of the stadium, though? You have to look at the big picture of lots of different cases, rather than just looking at one example, to avoid the correlation == causation trap. The other thing to look at would be, "what if we injected that money into the economy some other way, rather than into subsidizing a stadium?" It's possible that investing in, say, robust public transit would have an even greater economically beneficial impact.
- dwighttk 8y ago
  >"what if we injected that money into the economy some other way, rather than into subsidizing a stadium?" It's possible that investing in, say, robust public transit would have an even greater economically beneficial impact. Not in Arlington. It's a driving city between Ft. Worth and Dallas. No one is going to go visit Arlington because of robust public transit. They'd at best drive through to get to the Cowboys or Rangers games.
  - notSupplied 8y ago
    It could be a transfer of economic activity from larger neighboring areas, not necessarily creation of economic activity.
    - dwighttk 8y ago
      Yes, they are transferring the economic activity that comes with Cowboys and Rangers games (which are going to be played, new stadium or no) to Arlington... Directly from Irving in the Cowboys case and indirectly from wherever the Rangers might move. Also they have a bunch of other events in Cowboys stadium... not sure about the Ballpark.
sbov 8y ago
When it comes to subsidies, I think you would have to quantify a "local economy" as the economy local to the government entity giving the subsidy. The article about WrestleMania is probably only talking about the economy within a few miles of the stadium. E.g. if someone drove across town to attend WrestleMania, then on the whole, that local economy probably got minimal extra activity out of the participant - they were likely going to spend some or all of that money in the government's local economy anyways. If someone flew from out of state, then all their dollars are dollars you weren't going to see without the event.
kodablah 8y ago
And it was all subject to a vote and is just a slight increase on local sales tax. I too think it is a model example of a community voting for what they want and getting it, even if some newspaper tells them otherwise. Subsidizing entertainment should be the local populace's right despite the external guilt others want to heap on. Of course I think the same about communities and tax abatements for businesses too so I'm in the minority on HN.
- mr_toad 8y ago
  If no-one tells the voters that what they’re voting for doesn’t make economic sense, then where are they supposed to find out? Vested interests and popularist politicians have no interest in the facts, and are why we need newspapers ‘telling them otherwise’.
  - kodablah 8y ago
    I think you're confusing telling voters what they're voting for and telling voters whether it's good or bad. Arts and entertainment are too subjective for these journalists to objectively proclaim they are bad deals. In the instance with the new Cowboys' stadium and the new Rangers' stadium, the electorate was plenty informed.
    - emiliobumachar 8y ago
      By "plenty informed", do you mean no more than a tiny minority thought they were buying far more economic stimulus than it would be realistic to expect? If everyone knew they were just using government to buy entertainment in bulk, them you are right, but things are often not like that.
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masonic 8y ago
AT&T Stadium may be a good example of one that's helped How many days out of the year does it actually host events?
- jrnichols 8y ago
  13 separate multi-day events, such as motocross and professional bull riding and that's not including the Cowboys games or other football games or other concerts. It's not active 365 days of the year, but it usually has a decent amount of events going on.

TulliusCicero 8y ago

Was that because of the stadium, though? You have to look at the big picture of lots of different cases, rather than just looking at one example, to avoid the correlation == causation trap. The other thing to look at would be, "what if we injected that money into the economy some other way, rather than into subsidizing a stadium?" It's possible that investing in, say, robust public transit would have an even greater economically beneficial impact.

dwighttk 8y ago
>"what if we injected that money into the economy some other way, rather than into subsidizing a stadium?" It's possible that investing in, say, robust public transit would have an even greater economically beneficial impact. Not in Arlington. It's a driving city between Ft. Worth and Dallas. No one is going to go visit Arlington because of robust public transit. They'd at best drive through to get to the Cowboys or Rangers games.
- notSupplied 8y ago
  It could be a transfer of economic activity from larger neighboring areas, not necessarily creation of economic activity.
  - dwighttk 8y ago
    Yes, they are transferring the economic activity that comes with Cowboys and Rangers games (which are going to be played, new stadium or no) to Arlington... Directly from Irving in the Cowboys case and indirectly from wherever the Rangers might move. Also they have a bunch of other events in Cowboys stadium... not sure about the Ballpark.

sbov 8y ago

When it comes to subsidies, I think you would have to quantify a "local economy" as the economy local to the government entity giving the subsidy. The article about WrestleMania is probably only talking about the economy within a few miles of the stadium. E.g. if someone drove across town to attend WrestleMania, then on the whole, that local economy probably got minimal extra activity out of the participant - they were likely going to spend some or all of that money in the government's local economy anyways. If someone flew from out of state, then all their dollars are dollars you weren't going to see without the event.

kodablah 8y ago

And it was all subject to a vote and is just a slight increase on local sales tax. I too think it is a model example of a community voting for what they want and getting it, even if some newspaper tells them otherwise. Subsidizing entertainment should be the local populace's right despite the external guilt others want to heap on. Of course I think the same about communities and tax abatements for businesses too so I'm in the minority on HN.

mr_toad 8y ago
If no-one tells the voters that what they’re voting for doesn’t make economic sense, then where are they supposed to find out? Vested interests and popularist politicians have no interest in the facts, and are why we need newspapers ‘telling them otherwise’.
- kodablah 8y ago
  I think you're confusing telling voters what they're voting for and telling voters whether it's good or bad. Arts and entertainment are too subjective for these journalists to objectively proclaim they are bad deals. In the instance with the new Cowboys' stadium and the new Rangers' stadium, the electorate was plenty informed.
  - emiliobumachar 8y ago
    By "plenty informed", do you mean no more than a tiny minority thought they were buying far more economic stimulus than it would be realistic to expect? If everyone knew they were just using government to buy entertainment in bulk, them you are right, but things are often not like that.
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masonic 8y ago

AT&T Stadium may be a good example of one that's helped How many days out of the year does it actually host events?

jrnichols 8y ago
13 separate multi-day events, such as motocross and professional bull riding and that's not including the Cowboys games or other football games or other concerts. It's not active 365 days of the year, but it usually has a decent amount of events going on.