The Public Choice of Public Stadium Financing: Evidence from San Diego Referenda
Local politicians and team owners frequently argue that the public financing of stadiums is important for local economic development. The sports economics literature, however, has largely found that new professional sport facilities do not generate any new net economic activity. We provide context t...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2019-03-01
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| Series: | Economies |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/7/1/22 |
| _version_ | 1798005322101555200 |
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| author | Candon Johnson Joshua Hall |
| author_facet | Candon Johnson Joshua Hall |
| author_sort | Candon Johnson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Local politicians and team owners frequently argue that the public financing of stadiums is important for local economic development. The sports economics literature, however, has largely found that new professional sport facilities do not generate any new net economic activity. We provide context to this literature by exploring the public choice in the public financing of stadiums. In 2016, San Diego had two ballot measures related to the San Diego Chargers. Measure C would allow officials to raise hotel taxes to pay for a new downtown stadium for the Chargers. Measure D would also raise hotel taxes, but explicitly prevented any money being spent on the Chargers. Both measures failed to receive 50% of the votes cast. We find that zip codes with a higher voter turnout were more likely to vote against both measures, highlighting the importance of the timing of referenda in limiting the ability of clearly defined groups, such as Chargers fans, to have a large influence on the voting outcome. Meanwhile, areas with more Trump voters were more likely to support higher taxes for the purpose of building the Chargers a new stadium. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:37:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0d52dd368f094740b14d604e251e2425 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7099 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T12:37:21Z |
| publishDate | 2019-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Economies |
| spelling | doaj.art-0d52dd368f094740b14d604e251e24252022-12-22T04:23:35ZengMDPI AGEconomies2227-70992019-03-01712210.3390/economies7010022economies7010022The Public Choice of Public Stadium Financing: Evidence from San Diego ReferendaCandon Johnson0Joshua Hall1Center for Free Enterprise, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USACenter for Free Enterprise, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USALocal politicians and team owners frequently argue that the public financing of stadiums is important for local economic development. The sports economics literature, however, has largely found that new professional sport facilities do not generate any new net economic activity. We provide context to this literature by exploring the public choice in the public financing of stadiums. In 2016, San Diego had two ballot measures related to the San Diego Chargers. Measure C would allow officials to raise hotel taxes to pay for a new downtown stadium for the Chargers. Measure D would also raise hotel taxes, but explicitly prevented any money being spent on the Chargers. Both measures failed to receive 50% of the votes cast. We find that zip codes with a higher voter turnout were more likely to vote against both measures, highlighting the importance of the timing of referenda in limiting the ability of clearly defined groups, such as Chargers fans, to have a large influence on the voting outcome. Meanwhile, areas with more Trump voters were more likely to support higher taxes for the purpose of building the Chargers a new stadium.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/7/1/22voting behaviorNational Football LeagueDonald Trump |
| spellingShingle | Candon Johnson Joshua Hall The Public Choice of Public Stadium Financing: Evidence from San Diego Referenda Economies voting behavior National Football League Donald Trump |
| title | The Public Choice of Public Stadium Financing: Evidence from San Diego Referenda |
| title_full | The Public Choice of Public Stadium Financing: Evidence from San Diego Referenda |
| title_fullStr | The Public Choice of Public Stadium Financing: Evidence from San Diego Referenda |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Public Choice of Public Stadium Financing: Evidence from San Diego Referenda |
| title_short | The Public Choice of Public Stadium Financing: Evidence from San Diego Referenda |
| title_sort | public choice of public stadium financing evidence from san diego referenda |
| topic | voting behavior National Football League Donald Trump |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/7/1/22 |
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