Major League Sports and the Property Tax : Costs and Implications of a Stealth Tax Expenditure

Economists have extensively studied the billions of dollars that state and local governments have devoted to funding professional sports stadiums. However, the implicit subsidies that stadiums typically receive through property tax exemptions has received scant attention. In Major League Sports and the Property Tax, Geoffrey Propheter thoroughly examines the common practice of removing sports venues from local tax rolls, which results in millions of dollars in forgone tax revenue that is often not reported in the public accounting of costs. Propheter provides a detailed examination of how property taxes are administered and the implications that derive from stadium property tax exemptions and abatements. His comprehensive analysis presents stylized facts and specific examples that provide the most thorough treatment on the subject to date. The breadth of analysis and meticulous coverage of relevant issues demonstrates why Propheter has emerged as a leading expert on the economics of stadiums. This is perhaps the most important book on the public financing of stadiums written in the past decade, and anyone interested in stadium economics will want their own copy to read and reference.