Economist Pulls Back Curtain On Stadium Financing In SF

by Jeremiah Tittle

Friday’s article in the San Francisco Chronicle presents strong evidence to the contrary of what the 49ers and 49ers-new-stadium-enthusiasts have drummed up to make the case for the team to call Santa Clara it’s new home. Essentially what Stanford Economics Professor and author of “Sports, Jobs, and Taxes” Roger Knoll is saying is that an optimistic estimation of financial returns to the taxpaying city-dwellers of this small town within San Francisco helps the NFL sell this lump of coal at the bottom of their Christmas stocking as a bona fide wrapped gift with a bow. In reality, the only one getting a gift out of this zero-sum game is the owner himself.

June 4th is the date marked on calendars across Santa Clara as the community will decide definitively whether to subsidize the new stadium in their front yard to the tune of $330 million. It’s a hefty price tag for promised returns which include the recently ineffective sale of naming rights (see Dallas Cowboys new stadium as the most marketable option still unsold in this economy and note the political damage done to Citi for pulling the trigger on naming the Mets new home while receiving bailout cash). I wouldn’t take that bet to Vegas, and Santa Clarans shouldn’t take the burden of this stadium on come the first week in June.

If Santa Clarans do the right thing listening to the grassroots organizers at Santa Clara Plays Fair denying the NFL the cash to build, the game of financial russian roullette will continue throughout the greater San Francisco area perhaps opening the door to Los Angeles receiving the 49ers in exchange for the Raiders 30 years later. What a trade!

While that’s doubtful for a number of reasons, it is worth noting that California’s debt issues will continue when these types of measures are deemed acceptable by the general public due to sizeable misinformation campaigns waged by the billionaires and politicians with a vested interest. The word ‘investment’ should not be used without the word ‘bad’ preceding it.

VOTE NO on Measure J!

Jeremiah Tittle is the Managing Editor of SportsFansCoalition.org. Reach him at Jeremiah@SportsFansCoalition.org.