While citizens of San Diego, Oakland, and St. Louis argue over whether they can afford to keep their NFL teams, overlooked are the benefits of being rid of them, writes land use attorney and San Diego Chargers fan William Adams.
Confronting the specter of losing his beloved Chargers, San Diego land use attorney Bill Adams, looks on the bright side, writing:
"Every report or statement by public officials seems to be based on the assumption that keeping the NFL team is an economic and cultural benefit to the city. Much has been written about the public costs and dubious benefits of building stadiums to benefit professional sports teams. Little has been written about the benefits of losing a professional sports franchise beyond what is implicit in avoiding the pitfalls of building a new stadium. In fact, losing the team may have several tangible and intangible benefits to a city: . . ."
He goes on to explain, 3/4 seriously and 1/4 in jest. Included in his list of benefits are more support for local college teams, better use of the land, less demand for parking, and better personal use of time. At the end of the article he describes the stadium proposal that could get his support.
FULL STORY: Five reasons losing an NFL team is good for a city.
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research