CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — As elected leaders and White Sox fans talk about proposals for a new ballpark in the South Loop, one expert says many questions remain concerning what the actual benefit would be for the city.
Neil DeMause has studied stadium financing for 30 years, starting with the first edition of the book he co-wrote: “Field of Schemes.”
“I think we went in fairly skeptical, and we came out of our research horrified,” he told WBBM.
The bottom line: There’s no purpose to any of it, DeMause said.
“There’s no public benefit; there’s no gain to fans; there’s no gain to, really, anyone except the team owners, who get richer,” he said.
The White Sox haven’t said how much they’ll want public entities to spend on a new stadium, but counting existing tax breaks for “the 78” — a planned neighborhood development already approved for the same property — DeMause estimated $1.7 billion.
“It’s still a number that any economist in the country, and I really do mean any economist in the country, will say there is no possible way that you will get that money back,” he said.
One thing he does like: Discussions are happening in the open, so people can raise red flags and ask questions now.
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