Mets Fan Pays for CC Sabathia

ESPN is reporting that an agreement has been reached between the Yankees and CC Sabathia for a record setting 7 yr deal worth over $160M. What ESPN fails to tell you is that in the meantime, the Yankees are building a new stadium that is financed by public bonds. Basically, the tax-payer is subsidizing the new Yankee Stadium, even though there was nothing wrong with the current stadium. Here is Ilya Somin discussing the situation:

In this 2006 post, I criticized these public subsidies for the new Yankee Stadium,
as well as sports stadium subsidies in general. Studies by economists almost uniformly show that stadium subsidies create no net economic benefit for cities, but are instead a pure transfer of wealth from taxpayers to owners and players. The latter, to put it mildly, are not exactly needy. Public subsidies for stadium construction might even leave cities worse off by diverting valuable land and public funds from more productive uses.

Money is a finite resource and must be budgeted accordingly (someone please tell the government). Thus, without the bonds to cover the construction of the stadium, the Yankees would have been forced to choose between a new pitcher or a new stadium. However, by allowing tax payers to fill the pockets of the private organization, they can have the best of both worlds, thus creating a situation where non-Yankee fans are paying for good 'ol CC. One more tidbit from Ilya:

As regular VC readers know, I'm a big baseball fan. However, I also believe that baseball teams (and other professional sports teams) should pay their own way with funds earned from willing fans. Taxpayers who aren't baseball fans shouldn't be forced to subsidize the entertainment of those of us who are.

It's no wonder I don't watch baseball.