Let Them Eat Pigskin

Georgia doesn't have money for social services, but taxpayers gave $700 million for the stadium that's hosting tonight's Super Bowl. How long will NFL owners screw working-class Americans?

Construction of Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, August 3, 2016.Michael Barera / Wikimedia


As you’re watching Super Bowl LIII tonight at the cutting-edge Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, just remember why that stadium is there and who benefits most from it.

The venue, home to the Atlanta Falcons, cost $1.6 billion to construct and opened in 2017. But the Falcons alone did not pay for their state-of-the-art, energy-efficient arena. Georgians contributed $700 million to the project in taxes, despite the team’s owner, Arthur Blank, having an estimated $4.7 billion net worth, according to Forbes.

While this deal between the state and the Falcons may sound ludicrous, it is part of a trend of billionaire NFL owners screwing over working-class Americans by extracting copious amounts of public money from them.

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