Rumor has it that the Phoenix Suns may be asking for a new arena in the future.
The Phoenix Suns have played in the US Airways Center since 1992, making it one of the oldest non-renovated arenas in the NBA.
The question of whether the team will ask for a brand new arena (likely where the Phoenix Convention Center’s south building is) or a renovation has not been answered, but talks have reportedly begun between the team and city. The end result of those talks — assuming they go the way of numerous other cities around the country — will be a public financing plan that will have taxpayers cover a significant portion of the costs.
For those not aware of how this process typically unfolds, here’s a quick primer:
- Team wants new arena
- Team asks local governments for assistance
- If local governments refuse, team threatens to leave
- Local governments capitulate in some way
Or, if you’re in the mood for comedy, here’s a segment from comedian John Oliver’s show Last Week Tonight that sums it up fairly well:
Sports teams have been asking for public financing for stadiums for decades. The Cincinnati Bengals and Cincinnati Reds managed to get local governments to pay for almost all of the costs of both stadiums, according to the Wall Street Journal. Others, such as the Milwaukee Bucks, which got its deal finalized this year, have taxpayers paying for around half ($250 million) of the new stadium, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Keep in mind that these deals have been made despite numerous studies that have shown that stadiums rarely deliver on their promises for economic growth and job creation.
During the campaign for the Bucks arena, supporters argued the plan could create more than 10,000 jobs, a claim that was met with skepticism by sports economists, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The benefits of publicly financed sports stadiums is one of those fallacies that seems to hang around despite decades of research disproving it — kind of like the idea that left-brained people are more logical or that you have to drink eight glasses of water a day.
For Phoenix residents, the important thing to take note of is how rich teams (Suns are valued at $910 million, according to Forbes) and construction lobbies have been able to make so many residents across the country pay for something that benefits them and a few others.
This is not to say that the city shouldn’t help the team build a new arena, but let’s avoid being ripped off. With that in mind, I’ve assembled a little guide to help you push back against some oft-repeated claims.
We don’t need them
Let’s be clear, the Valley doesn’t need a basketball team to be a successful metropolitan area. Say it with me: “We don’t need the Suns.”
Once we accept that, the rest becomes easy. Part of what made the Bucks deal so successful is that they were able to convince politicians and residents that Milwaukee needed a basketball team to be a relevant city. The NBA even explicitly stated that without a new stadium deal, the team would move.
The appropriate response to this threat is, “So what?”
Do you know what two things Austin, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; Colorado Springs, Colo.; San Jose, Calif.; Seattle; and San Diego all have in common? They’re part of the top six in WalletHub’s list of top large cities to live in and they don’t have basketball teams.
Remember, at the very least, Phoenix has the Arizona Diamondbacks and Glendale has the Arizona Cardinals, and neither franchise is leaving any time soon (The status of the Arizona Coyotes, the area’s hockey team, is up in the air and may be tied to the construction of a new stadium for it and the Suns).
Beware of debt
Phoenix is already facing significant budget deficits in the near future. Next year’s deficit is projected to be between $31 and $58 million, according to the Arizona Republic.
Any deal in which the city has to pay for a significant part of a new arena will include increased taxes or more debt. Debt includes interest that will pile up over time. In the Milwaukee deal, for example, taxpayers could ultimately be on the hook for about $400 million after interest is taken into account, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The idea that taxpayers should shoulder such a significant load is even harder to swallow when considering that the Suns are a successful, wealthy franchise with a wealthy owner. Public assistance functions as a giveaway to people who don’t really need it.
Mirages
I cannot emphasize enough that claims of economic development attached to sports stadiums are usually wrong. They certainly didn’t come to pass in Cincinnati. If you hear stadium proponents claim that a new arena is going to bring prosperity to the city, you should be skeptical.
Those estimates are often based on generous assumptions about how much people will spend when they come for games and how many people will be employed as a result of increased business activity.
There are only two groups that are guaranteed to benefit from the construction of a new arena: the team’s owners and the construction companies that build the arena. All other benefits are solidly in the realm of conjecture.
Don’t expect the stadium supporters to explain why their deal will work out any differently than others. When I covered an event put on by business and construction groups who supported the new Bucks arena during my time at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, I specifically asked them what made this deal different and didn’t get an answer.
Vigilance
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement over a new arena.
People love sports and people love fancy new things. Stadiums provide both.
But one thing has been clear for a long time. Publicly financed stadiums rarely live up to the hype and saddle residents with bills they struggle to pay.
So when Suns owner Robert Sarver and most of City Council approach you in the near future with the type of plan that passed in Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and many other cities around the country, make sure you’re really satisfied with it. If you’re not, make your voice heard.
Attend the meetings. Ask the tough questions. Push back.
Contact the author at aphilip3@asu.edu.
