Sucking the Life Out of Detroit—With a New Sports Stadium

In 1999, William Ford Jr., whose family owns the Detroit Lions, said that a new stadium would "showcase the city's turnaround." In 1997, Michigan Governor John Engler stated that the stadium would symbolize the city's renewal. Over a decade later, the city is now bankrupt. But rather than learning from the past, and despite an overwhelming consensus amongst economists that sports stadium subsidies have no positive effect on an economy, the new Detroit Red Wings arena proposal is being sold as a way to boost the economy and bring Detroit out of bankruptcy. It's pitched as a win-win with no jeopardy to taxpayers. That's at best, a half-truth. For more information about Detroit's crony capitalism problem, click here.