John Oliver missed the point on Coyotes-Glendale issues
We're big fans of HBO's John Oliver and his show, Last Week Tonight. The problem with his segment on publicly funded stadiums, however, was that it either ploughed through well-worn fields of thought, or, when it came to the Coyotes and the City of Glendale, missed the point entirely.
The debate over publically funded stadiums has been argued ad nauseam for years. One sides believes rich, sports franchise owners shouldn't be getting what amounts to corporate welfare or entitlements when they make more than enough money to fund the construction themselves and those public funds could go to far better use in schools and civic services. The other side argues that the tax revenue that new stadiums spur through growth of nearby businesses, and the intangible value of civic pride created by sports teams more than pays for the stadium.
It's an argument that will never be won and we have no intention of dredging up all the points either side uses in its defense.
The point, in the case of the Coyotes, is that John Oliver missed the point. The stadium already exists. The public money was spent long ago to build Glendale Arena, which became Jobing.com Arena, then Gila River Arena. You can't suddenly make the arena disappear.
Glendale still has to book events and Glendale still has to spend about $6 million per year to manage it, per its own RFPs. We don't have any trouble with Oliver re-opening the publicly funded stadium issue. It's fair game, but in the case of the Coyotes, his segment amounted to amusing theater deficient in facts or context.
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