A lot of us here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area objected to the City of Arlington building a billion dollar stadium for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. Of course the Arlington Mayor and other officials touted the supposed financial advantages of bringing th Cowboys to Arlington, and got the citizens to approve the venture, along with the increased taxes t pay for it. Many of us thought the supposed finaancial advantages were a joke. Now we have an argument from a Seattle team that having a pro team in the city offers no financial advantage, as the team wants to break its lease and leave town. Here is a post I copied from Coyote Blog.

The Seattle Supersonics have finally admitted what rational folks have known for a long time: Billion dollar municipal stadiums are just taxpayer subsidies for already-rich players and owners, and do nothing for local economic development. Here is what the Sonics ownership stated in court papers (part of a case where they are trying to break their lease in Seattle):

"The financial issue is simple, and the city's analysts agree, there will be no net economic loss if the Sonics leave Seattle. Entertainment dollars not spent on the Sonics will be spent on Seattle's many other sports and entertainment options. Seattleites will not reduce their entertainment budget simply because the Sonics leave," the Sonics said in the court brief.

...Rodney Fort, a professor of sports management at the University of Michigan, who has criticized the economic-impact claims made by pro-sports teams, called the Sonics' latest argument "the best chuckle" he's had in a long time.