in the US at least, studies have shown that stadiums have negligible positive economic impact in their immediate vicinity. that might be because most spectators arrive by car and just goto the game and go straight home. for some hockey and basketball arenas that are actually in cities, you might see some bars get more business on matchdays, but that's hardly anything to justify the expenditure of taxpayer funds. US team owners have collectively received tens, perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to build new stadiums for these teams. besides the wars and the university tuition/loan system, it's one of the biggest scams in america.
