Economic research has shown that stadium subsidies are bad public investments. That hasn’t reduced the desire of local governments to throw money at professional sports teams. Making matters worse, when local governments choose to play this game, they often do so strangely, as in the ways Raleigh and Charlotte are trying to attract a top-tier professional soccer team.
The country’s top soccer league is Major League Soccer. MLS currently has 20 teams and is in growth mode. In December, the league upped its goal to 28 teams, committing to four franchises in addition to already announced expansion franchises in Atlanta, Miami, Minneapolis, and a second team in New York City. It’s widely expected that Sacramento and San Antonio will be included in this next round of expansion, leaving just two spots available.
The league prefers that teams have their own stadiums, rather than a facility shared with some other major sports franchise — though that isn’t always possible — and that they’re located downtown. The stadiums typically seat 18,000 or more and have luxury boxes and other fancy amenities.
How much does such a facility cost? Recently completed and proposed MLS stadiums are running in the $100 million to $150 million range.
In June, The Charlotte Observer reported on an expandable stadium option as a means of potentially attracting the MLS. Jim McPhiliamy owns the Charlotte Hounds of Major League Lacrosse and is involved with a minor-league soccer team, the Charlotte Independence. The Hounds currently play at American Legion Memorial Stadium, which opened in 1936 and shows its age.
McPhiliamy’s idea is to tear down the old stadium and replace it with a more modern facility, seating 9,000 at first but with the possibility of handling 20,000 to 25,000 should the city get an MLS franchise. City officials said they would consider using tax money to help fund the new stadium.
As stadium ideas go, this is about as daft as it gets. McPhiliamy is fishing for the public money for a new home for his lacrosse team, which plays all of seven home games a year. Even if you are OK with public funding for privately owned sports teams, that’s just hard to justify.
It’s also unclear if the proposal is practical at this site. Over time, stadiums and arenas have gotten more elaborate, requiring more land for a particular seat count. The old stadium sits beside a major street on Central Piedmont Community College’s main campus and has little available land nearby.
Having a sports stadium on that parcel may not be the best use of the land. As Charlotte continues using infill development to attract new residents, the number of people wanting to take classes at CPCC is likely to go up. An easy way to accommodate some of that growth would be to put a classroom building or two where the stadium currently sits.
In Raleigh, meanwhile, a downtown group released a 10-year vision plan that includes a new stadium or arena. For what team? The plan’s vision doesn’t extend that far, though the owner of the local minor league Carolina Railhawks soccer team said he’d like to see the MLS come to Raleigh.
Having a vision is nice. But it takes two to tango, and recent news reports suggest that MLS isn’t targeting Charlotte or Raleigh. Instead, MLS Commissioner Don Garber says that in addition to Sacramento and San Antonio, St. Louis, San Diego, and Detroit are being considered.
Subsidizing stadium construction generally is a bad idea. Even worse is spending public money on sports facilities for teams that may never come to town.
Michael Lowrey is a contributor to Carolina Journal.