Do Publicly-Funded Stadia Pay Off?

Publicly funded stadium projects rarely deliver the millions of dollars in economic development promised by professional sports teams, according to research by a national economist considered an expert in stadium financing.

Most of the 21 stadiums or ballparks built within the last nine years haven’t produced significant gains to justify the average $223 million in tax money each community used to build them, said Robert Baade, chairman of economics and business for Lake Forest College in Illinois.

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