Do Economists Reach a Conclusion on Subsidies for Sports Franchises, Stadiums, and Mega-Events?

Dennis Coates () and Brad Humphreys

No 818, Working Papers from International Association of Sports Economists

Abstract: This paper reviews the empirical literature assessing the effects of subsidies for professional sports franchises and facilities. The evidence reveals a great deal of consistency among economists doing research in this area. That evidence is that sports subsidies cannot be justified on the grounds of local economic development, income growth or job creation, those arguments most frequently used by subsidy advocates. The paper also relates survey evidence showing that economists in general oppose sports subsidies. In addition to reviewing the empirical literature, we describe the economic intuition that probably underlies the strong consensus among economists against sports subsidies.

Keywords: sports; subsidies; stadiums; arenas (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L83 H2 H4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-spo, nep-tur and nep-ure
Date: 2008-08
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Journal Article: Do Economists Reach a Conclusion on Subsidies for Sports Franchises, Stadiums, and Mega-Events? (2008)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spe:wpaper:0818

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