Economic Proposal

Looking through sport issues that were related to economics first posed as a minor problem for me because I found so many topics that were very interesting. The more I looked though, the more I found myself researching subjects that involved the development of stadiums and the impact that they have on the city, the economy, and the people that live there. Part of the reasoning for this new interest in stadiums is because of the current proposal of Portland getting a Major League Baseball team and the implications that have arose in the efforts to build a stadium. To narrow my topic down a little I am going to look at the funding of a stadium, particularly government subsidies.

Governmental subsidies have been a heated topic since the early 90's when a rash of new stadiums were springing up throughout the nation. Social groups were outraged by the idea of governmental funding being diverted from social programs and given to billionaire owners to build a stadium. Politicians on the other hand argue that the revenue brought in by a professional team outweighs any funding that was given. I am excited to look deeper into this topic.

With the foundation of my topic set I will try to also answer important questions such as; can a new stadium revitalize a declining sector in a city? What are the benefits to a town when you build a new stadium? Do the benefits of the government building a new stadium outweigh the costs? What are the positive and negative effects on the economy when the government builds the city a stadium? I also am hoping that questions will arise throughout the research that I will be able to elaborate more on.

The approach that I am going to take with this paper is to first field all my information and organize it to where it is most useful. The initial steps of my research has found me looking and books, online, articles in magazines, and one of my more important sources, my cousin who is an employee of the Trailblazers and has been