The economic benefits from the stadium project largely will be concentrated in the hands of relatively few individuals. During the stadium's operational phase, the team owners and players primarily will benefit from the stadium subsidy. In both the construction and the operational phases of the stadium, evidence from across the United States indicates that the economic impact is insignificant. An investment in professional sports alters the flow of payments within an economy. Consider the estimates with regard to the stadium's operation.
Impact analysis is only as good as the information developed on the direct impact.
In this analysis, the direct impact encompasses the operations of the Seattle Mariners Baseball Club, the Kingdome, and the Kingdome concessionaire, as well as the fan expenditures. Taken together these inflows and outflows do not amount to much, in part because the professional sports industry is small relative to that of a large, diverse metropolitan economy. For example, while it is true that professional sports teams bring in national television money, owners and players primarily appropriate that money. Even if owners and players live in the community in which they work, a substantial portion of their earned income leaks from the local economy in the form of taxes and savings. In general, the professional sports industry skews the local distribution of income in a way that at least partially mutes the inflow of funds alleged to occur as a consequence of hosting a professional sports team.