I don't think it's a secret we think the Arvest Ballpark was a poor excuse for economic development not to mention the feeling that taxpayers were duped into paying for it. Two years later, a couple of driving ranges are the only proposals that have surfaced for the area.Not so says Perry Webb "This area transformed from people raising chickens and a bunch of hillbillies to the forefront of the corporate world."
A bunch of hillbillies. Really?
There has been a lot of discussion all across the country about sports stadiums being touted as the key to economic development and yet study after study finds they cost far more than they return.
The New York Times recently reported that "deals that were used to persuade taxpayers to finance their construction have in many cases backfired..."Dale Rubin, of Salem, Oregon is an attorney who specializes in public subsidy issues. He recently finished a brief for a public policy group in which his concluions of law were that municipal subsidies for sports stadiums are unconstitutional. He said 'Almost all state laws say that no public entity should be aiding private enterprise...'
Brad Humphreys, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Maryland says "on average, professional sports reduces inflation-adjusted income per person by a small but statistically significant amount, roughly $40 per person per year. That figure is for every person ... not just people who attended games. So professional sports do not form the basis of a viable local economic development program.
Here are a few more articles. The list goes on and on and on...