This week’s quote comes to us from none other than the Wall Street Journal editorial page. In opining against the massive taxpayer handouts being bandied about as the Chicago Bears play Illinois off against Indiana for their new stadium, the paper quoted a study on the value of these subsidies:
“Nearly all empirical studies find little to no tangible impacts of sports teams and facilities on local economic activity,” says a 2022 review of decades of research. “The level of venue subsidies typically provided far exceeds any observed economic benefit.” In other words, the short-term loser of this Bears stadium playoff might really be the long-term winner.“
- If the Bears do move to Indiana:
A) They’ll find success and finally win a second Super Bowl.
B) It won’t be the same because the Indiana Tollway Bears just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
C) Indianans will wonder why they’re subsidizing an inferior team when they’ve already got the Hoosiers.
D) They’ll still suck.
2. According to Forbes, if the Bears were sold today how much would they fetch?
A) $2 billion.
B) $5 billion.
C) $9 billion.
D) $36 billion.
3. How much revenue did the NFL as a whole produce last year?
A) $3 billion
B) $13 billion.
C) $23 billion.
D) $33 billion.
4. The NFL and its owners can’t afford to build their own stadiums on their own dime because:
A) Well, sure, they could scrape by, but then all the seats wouldn’t have cup holders.
B) They’d have to scrimp and so the field would only be 90 yards long.
C) Do you have any idea what they’re paying Tom Brady?
D) To not wring every dime you can from sucker politicians eager to blow the public’s money on a sports palace would be management negligence.
5. In 2023, the Republican Legislature teamed with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to put Wisconsin taxpayers on the hook for $557 million in stadium upgrades for the Milwaukee Brewers. What percentage of Wisconsin voters supported that move?
A) 29%
B) 39%
C) 49%
D) 59%
6. Just last week the Wisconsin Legislature voted to give almost $15 million in taxpayer money every year to what had, up until now, been a self-supporting Badger athletic program. The legislation passed in record speed, with the bill having been introduced only a couple of weeks before the session ended. During that same period it was reported that the UW’s Space Place, an interactive lab, popular with school groups and where kids and adults could learn more about the universe, would be shuttered due to lack of funding. How did Legislative leaders and Gov. Evers respond?
A) They rushed through a bill to save Space Place at a cost that was a rounding error compared to the $14.6 million they had just forked over to the athletic department.
B) There wasn’t time to get a bill introduced, but they promised to deal with it as part of an upcoming special session on how to spend the state’s $2.5 billion surplus.
C) Evers said he’d find emergency funds to keep the program going until its long-term future can be worked out in the next budget.
D) Crickets.
7. With overwhelming evidence that taxpayer subsidies for big time sports are a waste and with public opinion generally opposed, why do these subsidies pass every time everywhere?
A) Politicians realize that nobody will vote them out of office if they cave to the team owners, but they’ll get blamed if a team leaves.
B) There’s a booster mentality built into almost every elected official which blinds them to facts and reason.
C) They get star struck when lobbied by their sports heroes and icons.
D) All of the above.
8. In 2003 the public kicked in almost $300 million for the renovation of Lambeau Field. Those were forced taxpayer dollars over and above what the public voluntary pays for Packer stock. I myself am a proud team owner. What is true about my share of Packer stock?
A) It does not increase in value.
B) I cannot sell it.
C) It’s essentially a worthless piece of paper and what I paid for it amounted to a handout to a billion dollar industry. I even had to pay for the frame.
D) All of the above.
Answers
1: D
2: C
3: C
4: D
5: A
6: D
7: D
8: D
Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos 