« From Assembly Speaker Silver, non-candid candor on the arena | Main | Dean Street Construction »
June 19, 2008
Socialized Sports
The NY Sun
Boston might not be the home of New York's favorite sports franchises, but this city had a reason to cheer as the Celtics claimed the NBA championship over the Lakers on Tuesday night. Boston's victory proves that sports franchises don't need tax subsidies to succeed, and in no city is that lesson more needed than New York, where multimillionaire owners regularly claim that their teams simply cannot compete unless a healthy dose of funding is forcibly taken from taxpaying residents.
TD Banknorth Garden, Gillette Stadium, and Fenway Park are all privately-owned and -funded, while the teams that play in those stadiums — the Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox, respectively — have, in recent years, all won world championships. That is to say, all the joy generated in Boston sports stadiums hasn't cost taxpayers a dime.
...
[A]ccording to the New York Post, the public will foot the cost of more than half of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, which will house the New Jersey Nets in a $950 million arena, one the most expensive ever built.
NoLandGrab: Sure, our local teams are not playing by free-market rules, but to call it "Socialized Sports" is a little unfair to socialists.
The Sun is the one paper that has consistently covered the un-capitalistic nature of the Atlantic Yards deal, from massive public subsidies for a highly profitable development company to the abuse of eminent domain. An ardent capitalist recognizes the market-distorting nature of both.
On the other hand, any dyed-in-the-wool socialist would have a problem with allocating private property and public resources to the enrichment of a single developer.
Perhaps "oligarchy" best describes what's going on in Ratnerville, and with our local professional-sports-assistance progam.
Posted by lumi at June 19, 2008 4:34 AM