Major League Sports And The Property Tax

This book updates the public policy dialogue on major league sports facilities and the property tax in the US. By providing a rigorous treatment of the property tax within the context of major league sports facilities, this volume clarifies the widely asserted claim that most major league teams do not pay property taxes. The chapters methodically lay out the property tax status of every activity major league facility, the actual worth of that property tax expenditure, and the impact of property tax exemptions on local public services. Using empirical data, the volume provides a foundation for informed policy making regarding major league sports facilities. As such, this book will be a useful tool for researchers and students in sports economics, sports management, public policy, and public finance, as well as practitioners involved in the policy process. Economists have extensively studied the billions of dollars that state and local governments have devoted to funding professional sports stadiums. However, the implicit subsidies that stadiums typically receive through property tax exemptions has received scant attention. In Major League Sports and the Property Tax, Geoffrey Propheter thoroughly examines the common practice of removing sports venues from local tax rolls, which results in millions of dollars in forgone tax revenue that is often not reported in the public accounting of costs. Propheter provides a detailed examination of how property taxes are administered and the implications that derive from stadium property tax exemptions and abatements. His comprehensive analysis presents stylized facts and specific examples that provide the most thorough treatment on the subject to date. The breadth of analysis and meticulous coverage of relevant issues demonstrates why Propheter has emerged as a leading expert on the economics of stadiums. This is perhaps the most important book on the public financing of stadiums written in the past decade, and anyone interested in stadium economics will want their own copy to read and reference. JC Bradbury, Professor of Economics, Kennesaw State University.

This book updates the public policy dialogue on major league sports facilities and the property tax in the US. By providing a rigorous treatment of the property tax within the context of major league sports facilities, this volume debunks the widely asserted claim that most major league teams do not pay property taxes. The chapters methodically lay out the property tax status of every activity major league facility, the actual worth of that property tax expenditure, and the impact of property tax exemptions on local public services. Using empirical data, the volume provides a foundation for informed policy making regarding major league sports facilities. As such, this book will be a useful tool for researchers and students in sports economics, sports management, public policy, and public finance, as well as practitioners involved in the policy process. Economists have extensively studied the billions of dollars that state and local governments have devoted to funding professional sports stadiums. However, the implicit subsidies that stadiums typically receive through property tax exemptions has received scant attention. In Major League Sports and the Property Tax, Geoffrey Propheter thoroughly examines the common practice of removing sports venues from local tax rolls, which results in millions of dollars in forgone tax revenue that is often not reported in the public accounting of costs. Propheter provides a detailed examination of how property taxes are administered and the implications that derive from stadium property tax exemptions and abatements. His comprehensive analysis presents stylized facts and specific examples that provide the most thorough treatment on the subject to date. The breadth of analysis and meticulous coverage of relevant issues demonstrates why Propheter has emerged as a leading expert on the economics of stadiums. This is perhaps the most important book on the public financing of stadiums written in the past decade, and anyone interested in stadium economics will want their own copy to read and reference. JC Bradbury, Professor of Economics, Kennesaw State University

This volume takes readers inside the high-stakes game of public-private partnerships for major league sports facilities, explaining why some cities made better deals than others, assessing the best practices and common pitfalls in deal structuring and facility leases, as well as highlighting important differences across markets, leagues, facility types, public actors, subsidy delivery mechanisms, and urban development aspirations. It concludes with speculations about the next round of facility replacement amidst rapid changes in broadcast technology, shrinking domestic audiences, and the globalization of sport.

" America is in the midst of a sports building boom. Professional sports teams are demanding and receiving fancy new playing facilities that are heavily subsidized by government. In many cases, the rationale given for these subsidies is that attracting or retaining a professional sports franchise--even a minor league baseball team or a major league pre-season training facility--more than pays for itself in increased tax revenues, local economic development, and job creation. But are these claims true? To assess the case for subsidies, this book examines the economic impact of new stadiums and the presence of a sports franchise on the local economy. It first explores such general issues as the appropriate method for measuring economic benefits and costs, the source of the bargaining power of teams in obtaining subsidies from local government, the local politics of attracting and retaining teams, the relationship between sports and local employment, and the importance of stadium design in influencing the economic impact of a facility. The second part of the book contains case studies of major league sports facilities in Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and the Twin Cities, and of minor league stadiums and spring training facilities in baseball. The primary conclusions are: first, sports teams and facilities are not a source of local economic growth and employment; second, the magnitude of the net subsidy exceeds the financial benefit of a new stadium to a team; and, third, the most plausible reasons that cities are willing to subsidize sports teams are the intense popularity of sports among a substantial proportion of voters and businesses and the leverage that teams enjoy from the monopoly position of professional sports leagues. "

Becoming Big League is the story of Seattle's relationship with major league baseball from the 1962 World's Fair to the completion of the Kingdome in 1976 and beyond. Bill Mullins focuses on the acquisition and loss, after only one year, of the Seattle Pilots and documents their on-the-field exploits in lively play-by-play sections. The Pilots' underfunded ownership, led by Seattle's Dewey and Max Soriano and William Daley of Cleveland, struggled to make the team a success. They were savvy baseball men, but they made mistakes and wrangled with the city. By the end of the first season, the team was in bankruptcy. The Pilots were sold to a contingent from Milwaukee led by Bud Selig, who moved the franchise to Wisconsin and rechristened the team the Brewers. Becoming Big League describes the character of Seattle in the 1960s and 1970s, explains how the operation of a major league baseball franchise fits into the life of a city, charts Seattle's long history of fraught stadium politics, and examines the business of baseball. Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hwhl5sLoQs&list=UUge4MONgLFncQ1w1C_BnHcw&index=1&feature=plcp

America is in the midst of a sports building boom. Professional sports teams are demanding and receiving fancy new playing facilities that are heavily subsidized by government. In many cases, the rationale given for these subsidies is that attracting or retaining a professional sports franchise—even a minor league baseball team or a major league pre-season training facility--more than pays for itself in increased tax revenues, local economic development, and job creation. But are these claims true? To assess the case for subsidies, this book examines the economic impact of new stadiums and the presence of a sports franchise on the local economy. It first explores such general issues as the appropriate method for measuring economic benefits and costs, the source of the bargaining power of teams in obtaining subsidies from local government, the local politics of attracting and retaining teams, the relationship between sports and local employment, and the importance of stadium design in influencing the economic impact of a facility. The second part of the book contains case studies of major league sports facilities in Baltimore, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, San Francisco, and the Twin Cities, and of minor league stadiums and spring training facilities in baseball. The primary conclusions are: first, sports teams and facilities are not a source of local economic growth and employment; second, the magnitude of the net subsidy exceeds the financial benefit of a new stadium to a team; and, third, the most plausible reasons that cities are willing to subsidize sports teams are the intense popularity of sports among a substantial proportion of voters and businesses and the leverage that teams enjoy from the monopoly position of professional sports leagues.

Major League Winners: Using Sports and Cultural Centers as Tools for Economic Development chronicles the challenges overcome by civic leaders who are using the development of sports and cultural venues to help create diversified, vibrant, and attractive economic bases within their communities. Drawing on his 30 years of involvement with such projec