Re:Taxpayers paying billions for the renovations and constru...
by techsupporter on Sunday December 25, 2022 @12:03AM
(#34124455)
> I like watching men in leotards fly around a track on their bicycles, but I haven't asked my municipality to pay for my personal athletic boondoggle.
It is often the case that so-called "lesser" sports not only don't get public subsidies, they pay taxes that the bigger sports don't.
For example, I enjoy watching curling. Granite Curling Club in Seattle is one of only two curling-specific facilities on the west coast and while it is a non-profit organization, it still pays property taxes, something that the Seattle Seahawks[0] and Seattle Mariners[0] do not. While the relative amounts are small, to be sure, to take the Mariners for example they pay $1.5 million in rent to the county yet the public expense is much higher than that[1].
This isn't a slam on the concept of sports--I also am a lifelong baseball fan--just how they are paid for, on which I think we agree.
It is often the case that so-called "lesser" sports not only don't get public subsidies, they pay taxes that the bigger sports don't.
For example, I enjoy watching curling. Granite Curling Club in Seattle is one of only two curling-specific facilities on the west coast and while it is a non-profit organization, it still pays property taxes, something that the Seattle Seahawks[0] and Seattle Mariners[0] do not. While the relative amounts are small, to be sure, to take the Mariners for example they pay $1.5 million in rent to the county yet the public expense is much higher than that[1].
This isn't a slam on the concept of sports--I also am a lifelong baseball fan--just how they are paid for, on which I think we agree.
0 - https://dor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/2022-02/InLieu_Leaseh...
1 - https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/mariners/king-county-cou...