Vegas Politicians Close To Handing NFL Billionaire Owner $750 Million
By Ken Reed
Earlier this week, the Nevada state senate approved giving Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis $750 million towards a new Las Vegas sports palace for his team to play in. If the state assembly also votes to approve the deal, it would be the largest public subsidy ever for an American stadium or arena.
Nevada governor Brian Sandoval (R) is leading the fight for the new stadium, despite budget problems that could result in cuts to critical public services.
“We have a woefully underfunded education system,” said Annette Magnus, the executive director of Battle Born Progress, one of the groups opposing the deal.
“We can’t build new schools … because we don’t have the money for it. We haven’t properly funded our mental health system since the ‘90s. They’re going to have to balance this budget, so they’re going to have to cut critical services. But they’re willing to raise a tax to build a billionaire a stadium.”
Proponents claim the new stadium would be a huge boost to the local economy. However, sports economists believe there’s little evidence to support such a claim. In fact, Stanford economist Roger Noll said claims of big tourism increases in Vegas have “no basis in reality.”
“No NFL stadium in the country generates tourism for regular season games that accounts for more than a few percent of attendance,” according to Noll. “And people who do travel for games typically spend minimal time – one night at most.”
Despite odds stacked against them, taxpayer groups are fighting hard to stop Sandoval from pushing the new stadium through without a public vote.
“The fix was in to jam this through with as little public scrutiny as possible,” said Bob Fulkerson, the state director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN). “They knew the more the public got to look at this, the more they would vomit all over it.”
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
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Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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