A study by Univ. of MD-Baltimore County (UMBC)
economist Dennis Coates shows that "bringing an NBA team to
Baltimore would not only fail to create jobs, it would
diminish the region's economy," according to Jon Morgan of
the Baltimore SUN. The study found that building a new
arena and acquiring a team would lead to a "shift" in
consumer spending that would "reduce" the personal income of
every resident in the Baltimore metropolitan area by an
average of $44 a year for the first ten years of the
league's existence in the city. Coates presented his
findings to the UMBC Social Sciences Forum yesterday.
Coates' study "measured the economic performance" of 37
metro areas in the U.S. between '69 and '94, using federal
"personal income" statistics as a measuring stick. But the
results are "in stark contrast" to a study funded by
supporters of a proposed new arena and conducted by
PricewaterhouseCoopers that "estimates" the project would
create 4,400 new jobs, and an arena and NBA team "would
result in" $36M in new net spending (Balt. SUN, 9/28).