In its annual Pork Report highlighting waste, fraud, and abuse of Tennessee taxpayer money, the Beacon Center of Tennessee identified 2022’s ‘Pork of the Year’ – the biggest waste of taxpayer money – as the funding and proposals of many sports stadiums across the state.
IT'S HERE: Check out the 2022 Pork Report! As always the report sheds light on hundreds of millions of dollars of wasteful spending in Tennessee.https://t.co/Q0QnjVjghN
— Beacon Center of TN (@BeaconTN) December 14, 2022
The report first cited the proposed state-of-the-art, $2.1 billion Tennessee Titans stadium in Nashville that is “reported to be the highest public subsidy for an NFL stadium in history.” As previously reported by The Tennessee Star, the new stadium is poised to cost more than $1.26 billion in public funds – which many Tennessee residents do not support.
Additional examples of “team owners happy to take taxpayer-funded handouts offered by the government” in Tennessee cited in the report include Chattanooga and Hamilton County “giving millions in taxpayer dollars and tax incentives” to build a new stadium for the city’s minor league baseball team, the Chattanooga Lookouts, and Knoxville city leaders expanding the special tax district for the city’s minor league baseball team, the Tennessee Smokies.
Another example of “stadium madness” cited in the Beacon Center’s report was Memphis giving $2 million in taxpayer money to upgrade Liberty Stadium and beginning talks with the state for “millions of dollars and an increase in their hotel-motel tax to fund renovations at current stadiums” as well as a new stadium for the Memphis soccer team, Memphis 901 FC.
“Government should not be in the business of funding stadiums for sports teams […] Government should get back to the basics instead of handing over a blank check to owners of sports franchises who, by the way, have yet to bring any professional championship trophy back to Tennessee,” the Beacon Center suggested in its Pork Report.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
A new stadium would be great, if the taxpayers were not paying for it. This is not the function of government.
Metro Nashville is presently obligated for approximately $1.8 for repairs whether the new stadium is built or not. Isn’t a new stadium better that an old one constantly in need of repairs? Under the new arrangement Metro does not have the responsibility for repairs.