House Committee Moves to End Sports Team Subsidies
March 11th, 2021 by Mike VasilindaIf a new or existing professional sports team wants to build a new stadium in Florida, a state program that has already rebated $370 million since 1994 for stadium construction or expansion would no longer be available under legislation approved by a House committee Thursday.
The Sports Development Program was re-tooled in 2014 and hasn’t given any money for a new stadium since, because of legislative opposition.
Sponsor Mike Beltran said professional sports teams no longer need a state subsidy to compete.
“We have the best weather, the best athletes as some of the members have said, we have 22 million people who are fairly prosperous and spending money on sports and other things. Sports teams are going to play here whether we subsidize them or not,” said Beltran.
“They make tons of money. These teams can afford any type of expansion they want and we’re still paying for it, and we’ll be paying for it for many years to come,” said Representative Dianne Hart.
The program was originally created to lure Major League baseball to St. Petersburg.
Eight teams, including the Marlins and Rays continue to receive payments.
Most stopped this decade, but the Orlando Magic, the newest team, will receive up to $2 million a year until 2038.
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