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THE CONVERSATION

"I've studied stadium financing for the past two decades --
and the new Bills stadium is one of the worst deals for taxpayers I've ever seen"
(April 15, 2022, Beth Daley)

April 6, 2022 "NFL's Bills Get $600 Million Stadium Subsidy in New York State Budget"
Bloomberg (Martin Z. Braun)

‘Mind-Boggling’

The new Bills stadium was attacked as welfare for billionaires by Hochul’s fellow Democrats and by both free-market and liberal watchdog groups. Economists who have studied public sports subsidies have found that the impact of new stadiums on the local economy is small.

The benefits are exaggerated, they say, because consumers who spend money on sports would likely spend their money on other forms of local entertainment. Analyses supporting subsidies also fail to account for opportunity costs. New York could have spent taxpayer money on infrastructure or education, which have the potential to spur economic growth. 

Good government groups also criticized Hochul’s deal for a conflict of interest. Her husband Bill, is the senior vice president and general counsel for Delaware North, which operates concession, premium dining and retail at the Bills’ current stadium.

Hochul has said Delaware North wasn’t a party to the negotiations with the state and that the Bills make decisions about vendors

Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat and chair of the State Senate’s finance committee said the Bills’ subsidy is the latest in a long-line of “New York state using its economic development money very badly.” 

An audit of state spending on select high tech projects found the economic benefits paled in comparison to the cost. The audit by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli found that of the $800 million spent on a SolarCity solar panel manufacturing plant, the state received $432 million in economic benefits, or $0.54 for every $1 spent.  

...
“It’s just a mind-boggling amount of public money into a private sports stadium owned by a family of billionaires who can certainly afford to pay for it themselves,” Krueger said.

"— With assistance by Laura Nahmias"

April 3, 2022 Gotham Gazette

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