One of Virginia Commonwealth's own local governments has been courting the idea of building an arena in the downtown beach area. The catch is that they intend on using local taxpayer's dollars to fund the project. The tourism attracting city already makes out fairly economically, without being home to any major athletic league. The Hampton Roads city is in good company, as town's all of the US are erecting convention centers, museums, concert halls, and arenas using public money on a hunch of hope.

Local governments are responding to dying economies by building athletic stadiums with money they don't have. Someone once said, €Don't borrow without having a plan of how you will pay it back.€ Well, these arenas and centers are the plan, but are they promising?

Local officials understandably look to the world of sports to generate revenue. Just look at how athletes are hailed, and may we add, PAID above doctors and teachers in America! Athletes and coaches receive are unarguably and well-documented wealthy amount of income. But critics say that such projects add little economic value.

Success Story
In the 90s, the Patriots made a corporate relocation from Foxboro, Mass. to Hartford, Conn. mainly at the promise of Connecticut law officials. They agreed to fund construction for the stadium and affiliated buildings. The secret piece to the puzzle is that it was funded privately. Without any public debt incurring, the complex now host football, soccer and concerts, and is surrounded by an engine of retail and restaurants. You

Not So Successful Stories
40 years ago, New Jersey borrowed $302 million to begin constructing Meadowlands arena. The plan was to pay it off in 25 years. Today, New Jersey owes $830 million on it even though the project went as planned.

The city of Fresno, CA. lured baseball's Grizzlies team from Phoenix, AZ. hoping they'd bought a textbook business expansion and relocation success story. They didn't anticipate the team taking a decline on their turf. The situation played out horribly with players demanding discounts on rent, and team authorities threatening to pull the league if they didn't receive more money. The Grizzlies are now receiving $700,000 in annual subsidies to stay in Fresno. This at least minimizes tax-payers contributions to the $3.4 million annual bond payment for the facility.

Charlotte, NC. is now home to the new NASCAR Hall of Fame. One can only guess how many millions it costs, just to employ a whopping 115 people.

Olympic capitol country, Greece, built about 30 facilities to host 2004 games. Now most of them are padlocked and unused, while the nation is experiencing financial collapse. Words of Wisdom to cities considering using their citizens' dollars to build and buyout teams: There is no guarantee that municipal finance will have a Magic Multiplier effect in your economy.