FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis, an outspoken opponent of spending state money on sports facilities, announced Thursday that Florida will provide Miami-Dade County with $8 million to improve roads and other infrastructure around the stadium being built for the Inter Miami soccer team.
At a news conference at the team’s temporary stadium in Fort Lauderdale, DeSantis acknowledged he was opposed to spending on the stadium but said this grant was different because it would improve roads and support the restaurants, shops and offices that will be part of the complex, which is scheduled to open late next year.
Since signing superstar Lionel Messi last year, Inter Miami has experienced a huge surge in popularity both globally and locally.
“We just don’t think we’re going to spend money building a sports stadium,” DeSantis said. However, if one is built, he believes, “People will want to go there. Will they be able to get there? Will it create more traffic?”
“Our role as a state government is not to give money to one team, but to create an environment where everyone can succeed,” DeSantis said. “Infrastructure is a big part of that.”
The 26,700-seat stadium will be built next to Miami International Airport on land leased from the city. Team owner Jorge Mas said the $1 billion project will be privately financed.
DeSantis and Mas did not answer questions. It is unclear how much the stadium’s infrastructure budget is and whether the state’s contribution is significant. Mas’ co-owner, former soccer superstar David Beckham, was scheduled to attend but did not show up.
JC Bradbury, an economics professor at Kennesaw State University in Georgia and former president of the North American Association of Sports Economists, said even with the relatively small state contribution, investing in stadiums is a poor use of public money.
Economic studies with almost 100 percent agreement have concluded that stadiums do not stimulate local economies but divert money that would otherwise have been spent in restaurants, theaters and elsewhere, Bradbury said.
“This is probably not the most deserving infrastructure project in the state. Helping people get to football games is not that important,” he said. “With every new sports stadium, they always say it has a huge economic impact. They always say this one will be different. It never is.”
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