Dear Mayor Williams and DC Council Members:
A vast body of economic research on the impact of baseball stadiums suggests that the proposed $440 million baseball stadium in the District of Columbia will not generate notable economic or fiscal benefits for the city. Most studies find that new sports stadiums do not increase employment or incomes and sometimes have a modest negative effect on local economies. The reason appears to be that sports stadiums do not increase overall entertainment spending but merely shift it from other entertainment venues to the stadium.
Research also suggests that a baseball stadium alone will not revitalize the Anacostia waterfront. Because sports stadiums are not used most of the year, they do not stimulate much development outside the stadium. Most modern stadiums include restaurant and other entertainment offerings, limiting the money that goes to neighboring businesses.
A new stadium cannot be expected to generate a net increase in economic activity in the Washington metropolitan area, but it may shift some entertainment spending from the Maryland and Virginia suburbs into the District. Nevertheless, the economic benefits to the District are not likely to outweigh the large stadium subsidy proposed by the District. At least 80 percent of the costs of the $440 million stadium are expected to be supported with public funds.
In short, it is dubious to justify the use of public funds to subsidize construction of a DC baseball stadium on economic development grounds.
Sincerely,
| Henry J. Aaron Brookings Institution |
Geoffrey Andron Austin Community College |
| Robert A. Baade Lake Forest College |
Charles W. Baird California State University – Hayward |
| Doug Bandow Cato Institute |
Andy H. Barnett Auburn University |
| John H. Beck Gonzaga University |
M. Douglas Berg Sam Houston State University |
| David J. Berri California State University – Bakersfield |
John Berthoud George Washington University |
| Elizabeth C. Bogan Princeton University |
Samuel Bostaph University of Dallas |
| Scott Bradford Brigham Young University |
John B. Bryant Rice University |
| Dennis Coates University of Maryland – Baltimore County |
John P. Cochran Metropolitan State College of Denver |
| Christian Crowley George Washington University |
Otto A. Davis Carnegie Mellon University |
| Gregory J. Delemeester Marietta College |
Craig Depken University of Texas – Arlington |
| John Dobra University of Nevada |
Robert M. Dunn Jr. George Washington University |
| Frank Falero California State University |
Arthur Fleisher III Metropolitan State College |
| Micah Frankel California State University – Hayward |
Kenneth R. French Dartmouth University – Tuck School of Business |
| Dennis E. Gale Rutgers University |
John M. Gandar University of North Carolina – Charlotte |
| David Garthoff
The University of Akron |
David E.R. Gay University of Arkansas |
| Otis Gilley Louisiana Tech University |
David Gold New School University |
| Peter Gordon University of Southern California |
Robert Hahn AEI-Brookings Joint Center |
| Dennis Halcoussis California State University – Northridge |
Pat Hendershott University of Aberdeen – Scotland |
| David R. Henderson Hoover Institute |
Brad Humphreys University of Illinois – Champaign-Urbana |
| F. Jerry Ingram The University of Lousiana-Monroe |
Bruce Johnson Centre College |
| David L. Kaserman Auburn University |
Raymond J. Keating Small Business Survival Committee |
| David Laband Auburn University |
Thomas M. Lenard The Progress & Freedom Foundation |
| Stan Liebowitz University of Texas – Dallas |
R. Ashley Lyman University of Idaho |
| Doug MacKenzie Ramapo College of New Jersey |
Michael L. Marlow California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo |
| Victor Matheson College of the Holy Cross |
Fred S. McChesney Northwestern University |
| Carlisle Moody College of William & Mary |
Richard F. Muth Emory University |
| Roger Noll Stanford University |
James B. O’Neill University of Delaware |
| Jeffrey Owen Indiana State University |
Allen Parkman University of New Mexico |
| William S. Peirce Case Western Reserve University |
Philip Porter University of South Florida |
| Barry W. Poulson University of Colorado |
Richard W. Rahn Discovery Institute |
| W. Robert Reed University of Oklahoma |
Jay R. Ritter University of Florida |
| Paul H. Rubin Emory University |
Raymond Sauer Clemson University |
| Martin Schmidt College of William & Mary |
Michael A. Schuyler Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation |
| Carlos Seiglie Rutgers University |
Rich Shields Keller Graduate School of Management |
| Stephen Shmanske California State University – Hayward |
William F. Shughart II University of Mississippi |
| John J. Siegfried Vanderbilt University |
Neil T. Skaggs Illinois State University |
| James F. Smith University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill |
Mark Steckbeck Hillsdale College |
| E. Frank Stephenson Berry College |
Courtenay C. Stone Ball State University |
| Alexander Tabarrok George Mason University |
John Tatom DePaul University |
| Henry Townsend (retired) |
Leo Troy Rutgers University – Newark |
| Richard K. Vedder Ohio University |
Scott Wallsten American Enterprise Institute |
| John T. Wenders University of Idaho |
Robert Whaples Wake Forest University |
| Walter E. Williams George Mason University |
Dennise P. Wilson University of Texas – Arlington |
| Gary Wolfram Hillsdale College |
Kate Zhou University of Hawaii |
| Andrew Zimbalist Smith College |
Benjamin Zycher Pacific Research Institute |
End Note:
Institutions are listed for informational purposes only.