<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="center">Ever since the National Football League let their games get political with the national anthem protests, there has been a tremendous backlash from fans and Republicans.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">House Republicans even took action by proposing a bill last week that would halt team owners from being able to use tax-free bonds to help fund the construction of these event arenas. ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;Under the legislation unveiled last week, local governments could no longer fund the building or renovation of professional sports stadiums by issuing tax-exempt, public-purpose bonds, the sort of bonds typically used to fund schools, libraries and public transit,&rdquo; wrote <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reuters. </em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The NFL argues that the tax-breaks are deserved because these massive construction projects create jobs.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;You can look around the country and see the economic development that&rsquo;s generated from some of these stadiums,&rdquo; said Joe Lockhart, NFL spokesman to <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reuters.</em> &ldquo;These sorts of infrastructure projects have a long history and the benefits of them are obvious in many of our communities around the country, so we will continue to make our opposition known on that.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Other major sports leagues like the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball have yet to release statements in response to the legislation.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Republicans reject the notion that these stadiums stimulate local economies. By allowing these tax-free bonds, it will cost the government, which is funded by tax-payers&rsquo; dollars, $300 million over the next decade.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">According to a Brookings Institution study, the government has lost up to $3.7 billion in tax revenue from these bonds. 36 of the 45 major-league stadiums were built with at least some funding from these type of tax-free bonds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;Although stadium construction for multimillion-dollar sports franchises may have some local economic benefit, that is not the responsibility of the federal government,&rdquo; said Lankford said in a statement to <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Washington Times.</em> &ldquo;The federal debt is now at a ridiculous $20 trillion. Using billions of federal taxpayer dollars for the subsidization of private stadiums, when we have real infrastructure needs in our country, is not a good way to prioritize our limited amount of money.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The NFL is more invested in protecting federal funding than other leagues for good reason.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;With tax-exempt bonds and other public subsidies, taxpayers have spent an average of $262 million on each ;NFL ;stadium built from 1990 to 2010, according to a study by Judith Grant Long, a University of Michigan professor of urban planning. That is about $60 million more than the average MLB stadium received,&rdquo; writes <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Washington Times.</em></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But Democrats have also supported similar legislation in the past. Former President Barack Obama proposed ending this type of tax break for stadiums back in 2015.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The national anthem debacle may have just what was needed to get this bill in place.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Author&rsquo;s note:</strong> NFL&rsquo;s Roger Goodell really screwed up on this one. Now Republicans are on a mission to halt federal subsidies for new stadiums and this is just the beginning.</p>
<p> ;</p>