Americans for Prosperity-Florida Releases Statement on Development Plans for New Stadium

Sep 20, 2023 by AFP

St. Petersburg, FL—Upon The Tampa Bay Rays’ announcement for a new state-of-the-art ballpark to be developed at an estimated $1.3 billion, AFP-FL State Director Skylar Zander made the following statement:

“The economic benefits promised by proponents of publicly funded sports stadiums fail to materialize time and time again. Studies have consistently shown that the return on investment for such projects is questionable at best, with most of the economic gains flowing to private interests rather than the general public. This means that taxpayers are forced to shoulder the financial burden yet reaping limited rewards, if any.

“For years, Tropicana Field has drawn some of the lowest attendance in Major League Baseball, and there is little reason to believe — and certainly no guarantee — that this would change at a new stadium. We cannot support such a waste of hard-earned taxpayer dollars, especially while the area is experiencing plenty of infrastructure failures.”

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