Evans (r) spearheaded the effort to build Nationals Park. Will he do the same for the Washington football team? Photo by The Washington Post
Listen to Dave Zirin:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
“Everyone loves the Redskins,” D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans said of the local football team with the racist name. At a meeting of the Dupont Circle Citizens Association last week, Evans said the city was engaging in “ongoing” conversations with the team, City Paper reported.
“It’s not a matter of ‘if’ they come back, it’s a matter of ‘when,'” he said. Coming from Evans, those words shouldn’t be taken lightly. As chair of the Finance and Revenue Committee, Evans helped deliver more than $600 million in public money for the construction of the privately owned Nationals Park.
While few would argue the ballpark has worked out well for District residents, a football stadium may be even worse. “If you flew a plane that had a billion dollars of cash in it and just dumped it on a city and let people pick it up and spend it, you’d be doing more for the economy of a city than you would by building a stadium,” said sports and politics writer Dave Zirin, citing an economist.
There’s a simple explanation for why public money for a football stadium is problematic: a team only plays eight home games a year, not including the playoffs (when Washington fans turn on the TV to watch other teams play).
At this point it’s unclear how much, if any, public money is being considered for the proposed stadium. For Zirin, however, one thing is certain: “If you’re a billionaire [you should] pay for your own damn stadium.”
If owners receive public funding they “should be prepared for us to make a demand for partial public ownership,” Zirin told TheFightBack. “There’s no reason why public money should magically turn into private profit just because the magician Jack Evans waves his magic wand.”
Related Stories:
Reporter John Hanrahan Responds to Councilmember Jack Evans’ Attack, Nov. 10, 2011