I really have no time for big business

[Bretrick]

Picture this.
Tasmania wants to enter the AFL - Australian Football League competition. The governing body said they must build a new stadium first. Stadium will cost upwards of $1 billion dollars.
Plans were approved; stadium will go ahead at a huge cost to the local community and the Australian public (jointly funded by the AFL, the Federal and State Governments)
Lo and behold, yesterday the consortium responsible for building the stadium has removed a major component of the stadium infrastructure. A two-storey underground carpark will no longer be built. The original plan was for a three-storey car park housing 532 car bays.
At a cost of $100 million, does that mean the total cost of the stadium will be reduce by that amount?
I bet the stadium will overrun it's total cost by at least 30%

 

[Rider77]

Over the years I've heard the local government promote tax subsidy of sports teams by investing huge sums in arenas and stadiums. It isn't a proposition that the tax payer can truly evaluate, because all the data comes from the promoters. Personally I think it is foolish to give a billionaire franchise owner a handout directly out of the taxpayer's pocket, many of whom never patronize the franchise in any way.

 

[Born_To_Lose]

Here in the U.S., it’s ridiculous as to how much the state, county and municipality adds on to each ticket sale through fees and taxes. Additionally, the same can be said for parking fees, vendor licenses, food and beverage consumption and merchandising. Additionally, there are fees to be collected from TV and radio rights.

There are mounds of money to be collected from building a new stadium at the taxpayer’s expense.

“The taxpayers (us) pay for the new stadium and everyone else reaps the rewards.” Seems fair to me. Or, as one financial expert puts it, “Experts often describe these returns back to the citizens as modest, with public funding typically covering a significant portion of the construction costs.”

And, there you have it.

 

[Packerjohn]

Thank goodness, I never attend any sporting events because I believe it's all about the money.