Hacker News Reader

Comment by janalsncm | Hacker News Reader

> American cities would all be better off if stadium subsidies disappeared.

The author seems to believe that all publicly funded things need to pay for themselves. I disagree. Some things are good in their own right. Sports stadiums add culture to cities in the same way that aquariums, museums, music venues and art galleries do.

The questions for me are do sports stadiums need to be rebuilt every 30 years? And how can we prevent sports stadiums from becoming just another wealth transfer from the middle class to the ultra rich? On the second, I would submit that a proper progressive tax system handles it nicely.

View on HN

Sports stadiums don’t need to pay for themselves, but they certainly shouldn’t be owned and managed by an entity that isn’t beholden to the taxpayer.

We don’t expect that tax funded enterprises need to be profitable, but we do expect that if they are, the profits should accrue to the taxpayer.

I think the difference is for me (even as a sports fan) is it’s all to save a billionaire owner some cash. I don’t mind spending/losing money on culture; I’m not a fan of doing it to line the pockets of someone who is already stupidly rich.

The 30 years point is an interesting one. Consider Oakland, who has all but abandoned the Coliseum and A's field, both served by a dedicated BART station that opened in 1972 after planning since the late 1950s. Compare how easy it is to get to this stadium vs. the new one for the 9'ers built right on 237 with no transit.

> Sports stadiums add culture to cities in the same way that aquariums, museums, music venues and art galleries do.

Citation required.

Go outside and talk to any regular person in Philadelphia and ask them whether they’ve been to an eagles game or the art museum.

Going somewhere doesn't mean it adds culture. Is anything new or interesting happening at the eagles games? Anyone gaining new incite or having revelations over the human condition? Seems more like people are just eating the same-old food and yelling at one another.

They literally are part of the culture. "The same-old food" is also culture. You are describing culture, and then saying "that's not culture". I think you're just using the wrong word for what you're trying to communicate.

The stadiums aren't contributing to that culture. They serve mass produced commodity food that's ubiquitous. I concede that hot dogs and the history behind them is culture, as are interesting new variations or applications. Though, continued sales at stadiums isn't adding to the culture.

Culture isn't history. We are constantly creating new culture. You don't have to like it. There's lots of new culture I don't like. But you can't redefine culture to mean "historic stuff, or stuff I appreciate".

Reply on news.ycombinator.com