I would love to live in a society that puts economic value on the people and ideas that I think are valuable. But that's just not going to happen. Someone like Derek Jeter or Drew Brees or Labron James plays a popular sport so well that they can fill stadiums with people who are willing to pay a big ticket price to see them play. If the players don't get the money, who should? The owner? Wouldn't that be a form of slavery? I don't think the taxpayers should EVER pay for a stadium for any owner, but the athletes themselves are worth whatever the fans are willing to spend on them. And I don't agree that taxpayer support of these stadiums is an economic boom to the municipality. Studies have shown that this is a misconception. If the sport is economically viable, the owner should be willing to find his own funding. One of the biggest problems in our society today is government "investment" where the private sector can't justify private funding. Do a Google search on "Destiny USA", where the city of Syracuse was so enamored by an outlandish developer, they gave him an outlandish deal. And he stiffed them all.
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