DEBATERS TALKING SPORTS IN DEPTH ANALYSIS ON PUBLIC FORUM DEBATE ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

SOME THOUGHTS FIRST… ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

TRENDS IN PUBLIC FORUM  Framework  Burdens – converse vs. inverse  Evidence, evidence, evidence. ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

PUBLIC SUBSIDIES TOPIC Resolved: On balance, public subsidies for professional athletic organizations in the United States benefit their local communities. ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

WHY THIS TOPIC?  “Since 2000, 28 new major league stadiums have been built costing over $9 billion dollars. More than half, over $5 billion, of the costs of the new stadiums were funded using public dollars. ” (Wilheim, 2008) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

DEFINING THE RESOLUTION  On Balance – just to create a broader resolution and to prevent cherry picking  Public subsidies – money from the government (specifically tax payers) to a organization, specifically for this resolution – a sports team, for something that benefits the public.  Professional Athletic Organizations – Most literature defines it as the Big 4 (NBA, MLB, NHL, NFL) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

FRAMING THE RESOLUTION  Cost Benefit Analysis  Pro – Only non economic impacts must be weighed  “…one cannot answer the question ‘Is it worth it?’ solely by focusing on economic data. The ultimate value of a sports facility or event is more or less than its net economic impact.” (Johnson and Sack, 1996)  “the focus on economic impact, both by its advocates and critics, misses the true source of public support of subsidies to sports stadiums.” (Owen, 2006)  Short Term vs. Long Term Impacts  Weighing in terms/perspective of the local community  Is the debate about public subsidies or the result of public subsidies? ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

PRO ARGUMENTS ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

CIVIC PRIDE  “The justification of subsidies tends to be based on the concept of ‘psychological income,’ that is on the effects of identification or stimulation and on the feelings created within the community. Thus subsidies are justified by their internal rather than their external effects.” (Szymanski, 2005)  “Sports teams provide a tangible focus for building community consciousness and social bonding. They are an important part of the collective experience of urban dwellers since they tie them together regardless of race, gender or economic standing. They are one of the few vehicles available for developing a sense of community.” (Crompton, 2004) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

HUMAN CAPITAL  “Instead of choosing one approach or another, perhaps the evidence is that a balance between big-ticket images and neighborhood scenes is key to human capital attraction.” (Rosentraub, 2010)  “While it may be unclear if amenities attract human capital, the absence of amenities does reduce a region’s attractiveness to workers, (and) investments in amusements and sports attractions were associated with higher levels of employment in the tourist sector, increasing household income levels, (and) the number of businesses in the area. Further, sports have a positive effect on the regional economy in both fast- and slow-growth cities.” (Rosentraub and Joo, 2009) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

PROPERTY VALUES  “the presence of both facilities has a significant positive effect on the value of surrounding houses and this positive effect decreases as the distance from the facilities increases” (Feng, 2008)  “these results suggest that there were expectations of amenity effects of a Cowboys stadium but these benefits were outweighed by the expected tax burden of the stadium.” (Dehring et al, 2006) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES  “Major league teams have become a critical talisman of the status of cities and metropolitan areas because of the popularity and visibility of professional sports. Art museums, symphony orchestras, theaters, and zoos are all marks of major cities, as are libraries and universities, leading law firms and banks, and great commercial and industrial corporations, but big league teams are seen by many as more easily and widely recognized symbols of a place’s importance.” (Danielson, 2007) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

CON ARGUMENTS ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

SUBSITUTION EFFECT  “Increased export sales result from attracting net new inflows of spending from outside the area. This regional increase in exports might occur if, for example, people from another region decide to attend a baseball game in the area, rather than go to their local movie theater. If, on the other hand, people from another region spend money at an area stadium rather than at a movie theater or restaurant near the stadium, the stadium is not increasing export sales-it is simply shifting them.” (Baade, 2000) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

LEAKAGES  “The professional sports industry is particularly susceptible to leakages out of the local economy. Revenues that flow to professional sports teams, the majority of which ends up in the pockets of players and owners, are less likely to remain in the local economy because owners and players do not spend a large percentage of their money locally.” (Sanderson, 2000) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

TAX TRADEOFFS  “it creates lost tax revenues that under normal circumstances would be assessed and paid. To illustrate the effect, consider the following: for a stadium completely financed with tax-exempt bonds, costing $225 million, and built today, it is estimated that the lost federal tax revenues will total $75 million over the life of the bonds.” (Jensen, 2000)  “In addition to cuts to parks, transit and other services, she notes, the city police force has stopped recruiting new officers because of budget cuts, and murders have risen dramatically this year. ‘The basic services of the city are suffering at the same time the Simons and [Colts owner Jim] Irsay are making out like bandits.’” (DeMause, 2013) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

GENTRIFICATION  “When a new stadium is financed with public dollars, the lower-income citizens of a host city are nonetheless the first to have their wallets raided.” (Cagan and deMause 1998)  “Professional sports is becoming so "gentrified" that only upper-income people can afford to go to the games, and these fans--with the many choices of activities that wealth brings--tend not to be as die-hard in their support as their middle- and lower-income counterparts” (McGraw, 1998) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

EXTORTION  “The leagues carefully control entry, artificially maintaining scarcity and enhancing bargaining power” (Abrams 2013) ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

OTHER RESOURCES ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

FILMS ON THE TOPIC BATTLE FOR BROOKLYN ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

BOOKS ON THE TOPIC Books > internet ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION

CAMPS ON THE TOPIC Mil ADVOCATE SPEECH AND DEBATE 2014 Fall Meeting & Workshops | Fayetteville GEORGIA FORENSIC COACHES ASSOCIATION w/page/ /2014%20GMU %20Patriot%20Debate%20Institut e%20-%20Public%20Forum public-forum-workshop/