Image Source: AP News
It’s up for debate whether or not a sports team can truly make a difference on their city’s economy — on paper, it seems like the right idea: more jobs, more revenue coming in, and more spending overall. This isn’t always the case, however, as games can actually repel people from visiting an area due to traffic congestion, and, without success from a team, most people won’t change their entertainment budget.
Along with this, new stadiums are unbelievably expensive to build. In 2015, the plan for SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles was approved with a budget between $1.7 to 2 billion dollars. The final cost? $4.963 billion. In this case, SoFi was privately funded (although the developer is seeking significant tax breaks from Inglewood as of today), but the most recent stadium plan announced, for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, comes with a price tag of $1.7 billion, $850 million of which will be coming from taxpayers. Will the revenue be worth it in Buffalo, the city less than 1/50th the size of New York City?
With that news, Buffalo fans can rest assured that their team is there to stay. A major league team in jeopardy right now, however, is the MLB’s Oakland Athletics. The A’s seem to be the last team hanging on to Oakland, with the Golden State Warriors leaving in 2018 for San Francisco, and the Raiders leaving in 2020 for Las Vegas. The A’s are without a doubt on their last legs — despite having some success recently, the team is notoriously cheap. Players are constantly traded after short periods of time (creating inconsistent seasons), the stadium is in disrepair, and attendance is at an all time low. Because of this, the team has had to raise its ticket and parking prices — something that isn’t making fans any happier. To add insult to injury, the A’s are horrendous this season, with the 2nd worst record in the MLB, another factor not helping any revenue come in.
Oakland’s owners are desperate for a turnaround in the form of a new stadium - one with an estimated price tag of $3 billion. To add to the strain, they plan to add this on to a $12 billion dollar development at the Port of Oakland’s Howard Terminal. This would be nearly impossible to do if Oakland relied on public funding, but in talks of an entirely privately funded stadium - like SoFi - it’s not clear exactly who these private funders would be. Libby Schaaf, the mayor of Oakland (who has been in office for both the Warriors and Raiders departures) is strongly for the new stadium, but wants to protect public funds at all costs.
Oakland tax rates are already higher than average, and the city struggles with unemployment and poverty rates, sitting at 8.16% and 14.6%, respectively. Fans are loyal, but everyone has their breaking point. An A’s stadium raising taxes significantly for all residents would be far from a fan favorite. An estimate created by the Bay Area Economic Council states that a new A’s stadium would generate $3 billion dollars in revenue within 10 years of opening, but would fans be willing to wait? Not just for 10 years of operation, but for the stadium itself (which, at this rate, could not be final any earlier than 2027). When SoFi stadium was built in Inglewood, California, it too came with the promise of more jobs, more revenue, and no taxpayer cost. Now, Inglewood’s residents have skyrocketing rent and home prices, which creates higher property taxes, causing residents to have to move.
This could be the reality of Oakland too — could they get fans to rally around saving a team, only for the team to push them outward? Oakland already struggles with gentrification, to which a new stadium could clearly worsen.
There were 2,488 fans at an A’s game this May in a stadium that can hold 60,000. Has the loyalty run out?
Sources:
NFL Reportedly Raising Debt Limit on Rams Stadium after L.A. Project nears $5B Price Tag
Inglewood Approves Plan For NFL Stadium, In Deal Involving Rams Owner
High Public Cost of the Proposed Inglewood NFL Stadium"
Done deal: Bills announce 30-year deal for new $1.4B stadium
The Oakland Athletics are the Loneliest Team in Baseball
The Economic Impacts of a New Baseball Stadium in Oakland
Agency clears way for Oakland Athletics $12B ballpark plan
Libby Schaaf on A’s relocation threat: ‘Hell no, we won’t let them go’
SoFi Stadium Went Up—and Then Everything Changed
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Oakland city, California