The Washington Post editorial board offers three reasons that Washington-area governments should not use taxpayer funds to subsidize a new stadium for the Washington Commanders:
1. “The prospects are cloudy at best for a healthy return on that investment for the surrounding community.”
2. Billionaire owner Dan Snyder is rich enough to pay for his own stadium, as the wealthy owner of the Los Angeles Rams, Stan Kroenke, did recently.
3. Dan Snyder is a jerk “who faces multiple allegations of engaging in and tolerating sexual harassment of female employees.”
Point 1 is definitely true, as Cato publications and many other analysts have noted for years.
Point 2 is also true, although it implies that if Dan Snyder were less wealthy, a taxpayer subsidy might be appropriate. In fact, subsidies to particular businesses are always inefficient and a drag on economic growth. True, there’s something especially off-putting about handing taxpayers’ money to billionaires. But every business, small or large, should have to earn its way in the marketplace, by satisfying consumers.
Point 3 is the one that especially concerns me. Dan Snyder may well be a jerk, and may run his company in a way that many people find objectionable. But governments should not be in the business of handing out favors—or penalties—to businesses because they find the corporation or its owners offensive. As I wrote recently, some Democratic officials tried to prevent Chick-fil‑A from opening outlets in their cities because of the company’s owners’ opposition to gay marriage. And Florida governor Ron DeSantis is attempting to punish Disney for expressing a political view which, as it happens, is more or less the opposite of the Chick‐fil‑A owners’ views. It’s a form of crony capitalism to reward or punish businesses on the basis of their alignment or non-alignment with incumbent officials.
Don’t make taxpayers subsidize a stadium for the Washington Commanders. Even if Snyder sells the team to a consortium of $100 stockholders or to the National Organization for Women.
