Yesterday the Tampa Bay Times reported how Pinellas County is spending over $41 million in bed tax revenue to pay for improvements to a stadium used by the Toronto Blue Jays, a Canadian baseball team. Being curious, I looked up the team and found they are doing well. Back in 2011 during the recession, Forbes reported their value was “only” $337 million. Just 6 years later, it is now $1.3 billion- Forbes reported an increase of 44% since 2016. This of course is but one team in one sport- there are many more similar stories here. At a recent county commission meeting, I suggested the county hire a professional fundraiser to fund recreational facilities here. The past and current mindset has been to rely on government- mainly federal CDBG- grants to do so. With these grants come two things- a lot of taxpayer-funded overhead, and a lot of strings or regulations. While a fundraiser may take a significant amount of money as commission, the fact is it does not come from the taxpayer. The county can use the money as they see fit, and with a proper contract there is no risk to the county in trying this. Wealthy sports teams continue to reap the benefits of the sports welfare system in Florida. While I’d like to see this practice stopped, like other parasites taking money for needless functions of government I realize it will not stop. It’s time they give some back.
Paul Henry