Oakland Raiders NFL 2015 News, Rumors: City Already Paying Big Dollars for Raiders
The taxpayers of America should in no way be paying money better spent on education and public safety to NFL franchise owners to keep NFL franchises in any city. There is no nicer way to say that. If some billionaire can afford a NFL franchise, they can afford the stadium that they play in.
There are many examples and even books written about the raw deal that taxpayers gets when local politicians cut deal with sport team owners to keep their teams in town. There is also little tangible proof that these deals benefit the public in any meaningful way outside of having the privilege of a NFL franchise in their city.
This is especially true of Oakland, California who not only have a NFL franchise but a MLB franchise as well. Both of those teams want a new facility and both of those teams want public subsidies to off set the cost of building new stadiums in that city.
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The problem is Oakland is already paying a lot of money for the Raiders and the A's. A bigger problem is those payments have been a problem for the city as far back as 2011. According to Bloomberg Business, "Oakland, California, the fifth-most crime ridden city in America, faced a $32 million budget deficit in fiscal 2011. It closed the gap by shrinking its police force by 18 percent, shedding 138 officers including 80 dismissals.
Untouched was the $14 million that the city pays to stage 10 games a season for the National Football League's Oakland Raiders and to host Major League Baseball's Athletics in the O.co Coliseum. The funds include operations and costs related to a swap contract, and are supplemented by $10 million from surrounding Alameda County, based on data compiled by Bloomberg from public records."
When the cost of having a NFL franchise starts to damage the public good than it is time for the city to simply say no. It appears that Oakland is at that point and may have been at the point for some time now.
While it is likely the Raiders will get public assistance form another city it would be seriously irresponsible of its city leaders to spend more public dollars in any attempt to keep the team. A city does not need a NFL franchise, but it does need police to keep the peace.
