Taxpayer Stadium

[Coke]

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/sports/08stadium.html?hp

[johnhp]

Excellent article Coke.  These stadiums and the way we pay for them has made itpossible for the phenomenal growth in the worth of teams, at public expense.  The result of economic policies of the Corporate state at its worst.

[ivanm]

A similar debacle is exhibition centers in my part of the state, namely in Wichita, Salina, and in Topeka.
Some influential family wants to leave its heritage or mark indelibly on a community so it puts up seed money for a grandiose structure that is not being utilized well enough to pay for itself. 

To rub salt in its wounds, the people of Wichita are paying for a second monster while they still pick up the tab for a first monster.   That is their heritage, a bunch of damned suckers who have let their community pride overrule their common sense by voting for such fiascos, not once, but twice.

It appears that the grandiose stadiums in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area aren't doing all that well either.  The Cowboy stadium and the Ranger stadium are very nice structures but both have priced themselves out of the market for good attendance.

[IM2]

The Ranger stadium was a con job by GW Bush, then the owner of the Rangers. Cowboys stadium today is making good money from attendance, it hosted the NBA all star game, several college football games and the Big 12 championship gamer. I don't think its losing anything. Jerry Jones won't let that happen.

As for Wichita, building another arena was stupid, I agree. Kansas Coliseum is right there, Koch Arena is on campus, and then in what is the absolute show of stupidity, Hartman Arena is right across teh Highway from  Kansas Coliseum. Salina needed the Bicentennial Center, and Topeka needed the Expocenter.

All of these cities are ran by mostly conservative people. GW Bush milked the citizens of Arlington out of money to build the Rangers stadium, he is conservative also. What is it about "conservatives" that makes them waste money like that?