Should Sacramento Subsidize a New Arena for the Kings?
Dave Iverson
Nov 15, 2013 at 10:00 AM
Should public money be spent to subsidize sports arenas? It's an old debate playing out in Sacramento. The City Council has approved a plan to build a new arena for the city's pro basketball team, the Kings, using a $258 million taxpayer subsidy. Will the investment pay off in jobs, economic development and civic pride? Or will the city struggle to pay off the costs in the long run, as other cities that have built major arenas have in the past?
Guests:
John Hyde, spokesperson for Sacramento Taxpayers Opposed to Pork (STOP), a group opposing the public subsidy
Tab Berg, member of Voters for a Fair Arena Deal, one of the citizen groups taking issue with the proposed arena subsidy
Victor Matheson, professor of economics specializing in sports economics at the College of the Holy Cross
Micah Weinberg, senior policy advisor, Bay Area Council
Marcos Breton, columnist, Sacramento Bee