Las Vegas ballpark pitch revives debate over public funding for sports stadiums
The proposal to help finance a new ballpark for Major League Baseball's Athletics in Las Vegas has revived nationwide debates about public funding for private stadiums, pitting Nevada’s powerful tourism industry and labor unions against some progressiv... CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Gov. Joe Lombardo wants to help build Major League Baseball's smallest ballpark, arguing that the worst team in baseball can boost Las Vegas, a city striving to call itself a sports mecca. Debate about public funding for private sports clubs has been revived with the Oakland Athletics ballpark proposal. The issue pits Nevada’s powerful tourism industry, including trade unions, against a growing chorus of mostly progressive groups nationwide raising concerns about the use of tax dollars to finance sports stadiums that could otherwise fund government services or schools. The debate over relocating the team from California to Nevada echoes others around the country. Politicians have approved large sums of ta...