I'm just catching up on how the worm is just starting to turn, regarding how federal taxpayers help build new sports facilities and fuel owners' profits. From Think Progress on 2/4/15. With Obama Budget, Your Federal Tax Dollars Won’t Pay For Sports Stadiums : President Obama’s most recent budget proposal takes aim at a tax exemption that has helped drive an explosion in publicly-financed sports facilities across the United States, a move that would end federal taxpayers’ role in subsidizing the construction of stadiums and arenas that often provide little economic benefit to their cities and states. As it stands now, cities and states can help pay for stadiums by accessing tax-free government bonds that have below-market interest rates subsidized by the federal government. The budget Obama released Monday, however, repeals the tax-exemption from the bonds that finance sports facilities if more than 10 percent of the arena or stadium is dedicated to private business u...
This watchdog blog, by journalist Norman Oder, concerns the $6B project to build the Barclays Center arena & 15-16 towers at a crucial site in Brooklyn. Dubbed Atlantic Yards by developer Forest City Ratner in 2003, it was rebranded Pacific Park Brooklyn in 2014 after the Chinese government-owned Greenland USA bought a 70% stake going forward. In 2018, once the arena & four towers were built, Greenland bought out most of Forest City's stake, then sold three leases to other companies.