Survey USA/11Alive poll: Majority would support new stadium to keep Falcons in Atlanta
On behalf of 11Alive, Survey USA has conducted an automated, statewide poll that shows Georgians willing to use taxpayer funds to help build a $1 billion – if it’s the only way to keep the Atlanta Falcons in downtown Atlanta.
From the TV station’s web site:
The survey of 500 adult Georgians conducted Wednesday night shows that 47 percent oppose using hotel-motel tax funds to help build a new stadium. 43 percent favor it. 10 percent are undecided.
When asked if they would support the project if it’s “the only way to keep the Atlanta Falcons team playing in downtown Atlanta,” 54% supported it and 37% opposed. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 and a half percent.
The 11Alive poll paints far rosier possibilities for a new Georgia Dome built via a public-private partnership with the Falcons and the NFL. A Journal-Constitution poll released just last week indicated 72 percent of Georgians opposed the measure – though the newspaper survey didn’t raise the possibility that the Falcons might leave their current home.
The football team hasn’t gone that far, but Georgia World Congress Authority officials have told lawmakers that a Falcons move to the suburbs is one of their concerns. Currently, in order to allow the state to pony up its $300 million share of the $1 billion project, the Legislature would have to approve an increase in the GWCA’s bonding capacity.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
95 comments Add your comment
blazerdawg
January 18th, 2013
4:51 pm
Continues the existing h/m tax rate which is low compared to other cities, Falcons investing $750M, puts Atlanta back on top for facilities – it is a good deal – and I do pay to stay in downtown hotels and have enjoyed every visit downtown.
another comment
January 18th, 2013
4:52 pm
Ignorance abounds in Atlanta. Taxes are a necessary to move forward and to have people bring in new business. If you don’t want to pay taxes buy your own Island and live on it with no services. Pay zero taxes for no services.
Don Coyote
January 18th, 2013
4:56 pm
Death and taxes. But isn’t there a better use to benefit the hotel/motel payers of this tax than an unneeded stadium?
How many of those polled plan to pay for the seat licenses that are the real reason for the new facility as well?
td
January 18th, 2013
5:01 pm
Shar
January 18th, 2013
4:23 pm
“And td, don’t be silly. Money is fungible, and gets spent on political priorities regardless of what the taxing authority says it’s for. The HOPE money is supposed to be reserved for specific education spending but all the Legislature has done for years is to redirect state education support to other things and let tuition rise and HOPE cover the difference”
It is funny that I have never seen one article written backing this claim. Can you please point one out for me so that I can see how they did it?
Burroughston Broch
January 18th, 2013
5:02 pm
@ Buckhead Boy
“Don’t worry; no one is going to insure the issue or buy the bonds, if they are not assured that the Hotel-Motel Tax can service the indebtedness.”
Did you say the same thing about AIG insuring mortgage-based financial instruments before 2008? We all know how well that worked. Come up with another platitude to sell.
td
January 18th, 2013
5:04 pm
allen981
January 18th, 2013
4:27 pm
“The only beneficiaries of a new stadium are Arthur Blank and his heirs.”
Where are all those people coming into ATL going to stay? Where are they going to eat? Are they coming directly to the stadium, if so then who are they pay to park, if not then how much money are they going to pay for MARTA?
Yes, only Blank will benefit.
rivercard
January 18th, 2013
5:09 pm
TD- All that money is coming in now, but with the new stadium it all goes to Arthur.
I am not sold that this new stadium is really going to show any great surge in new business.
I am willing to loan Arthur the money, but screw just giving it to him.
Ashley
January 18th, 2013
5:10 pm
Because the new stadium idea worked out so well for the Gwinnett Braves…. Uh, that is right the taxpayers got screwed and the lying politicans walked away.
sliderule
January 18th, 2013
5:11 pm
td
There will be no “new” masses of people coming to town. We are discussing replacing a stadium with another. They will stay and pay as they currently do. I bet the parking will be more though.
irishmafia
January 18th, 2013
5:13 pm
O come on, who did they poll Blank’s family ? Have not met a single person who is not adamantly opposed to the stadium, including dozens of die hard Falcon fans
southern hope
January 18th, 2013
5:14 pm
well, this is hilarious. And I just want to go on the record & say that I was in favor of the new stadium *before* the Falcons made it to the NFC finals.
(and that is because i LOATHE the Georgia Dome).
td
January 18th, 2013
5:16 pm
rivercard
January 18th, 2013
5:09 pm
Really?
NFL has stated that ATL receives another Super Bowl if we build a new stadium.
Jerry Jones (Cowboys stadium) has stated that his stadium is better and now that Texas A&M is in the SEC then the Championship game should be moved to his stadium. NO wants the SEC Championship game and so does Jacksonville.
Not to mention that the Chick-fila bowl is attempting to get Atlanta added to the new college football rotation with a new stadium.
Go ahead and keep your head in the sand.
Things that make you go hmmm
January 18th, 2013
5:16 pm
If new stadium is such an economic boost then why wouldn’t Arthur Blank want to own all of it and pay for all of it? These sports teams owners are very content with saying they are going to leave town unless someone give them x. I say hit the road jack and don’t you come back.
fiscal man
January 18th, 2013
5:17 pm
Oh really who do you think is going to pay for the road improvements, sewers, lights, sidewalks and the rest of the bonds due on the Dome?
Mr. Mover
January 18th, 2013
5:18 pm
Every pro team in every city has threatened to move if they don’t get their way –i.e. have taxpayers pick up the tab for the billionaire owners
Things that make you go hmmm
January 18th, 2013
5:20 pm
All listen to td….why the new stadum will be paid for by the one game per year of the SEC championship. It’s gonna be an expensive boondoggle to have that $1B stadium paid for over 20 years with the “possibilty” of the SEC Championship game played there….what a homer for Blank.
rivercard
January 18th, 2013
5:27 pm
TD – We have had the Super Bowl twice in a stadium that is newer than the one they are playing it in this year. How often can we really have it here? Is the carrot of a super bowl every X years really worth the investment? Being used to twist arms. Economic benefits of Super Bowl are debatable. Indy didn’t seem to fare so well.
Chik FilA bowl will play in whatever stadium is available and I haven’t seen anything saying their shot at NC game is contingent on this.
Out and out fear mongering over what in the end is a debatable economic benefit for City.
Packers Fan in Atlanta
January 18th, 2013
5:35 pm
Make the fans pay for it!!!!
If you love your team so much take your money and pay for the stadium yourselves… then take the hotel tax and improve your 47th ranked educational system!!!!
It’s been proven in study after study that a new stadium does not help neighborhoods… for further proof check our Summerhill, Mechanicsville, and Peoplestown near Turner field.
Angry Voter
January 18th, 2013
5:36 pm
@td – you do realize you are advocating the law be changed while, at the same time, claiming the law cannot be changed, right? If the law cannot be changed, the stadium cannot be built. If the law can be changed to allow the stadium to be built, it can also be changed to allow the funds to be used for education, infrastructure, public safety or the like.
So which is it? The law cannot be changed? Then there is no new stadium? Or the law can be changed? Then the funds could possibly be used for just about anything.
babymama
January 18th, 2013
5:40 pm
Enter your comments here
How many has actually gotten a call from one of these polls??
Angry Voter
January 18th, 2013
5:46 pm
Why does there have to be borrowing and a bond issue. Why can’t the authority start saving money and pay for the stadium once the money is in place to pay for the stadium and the needed infrastructure? No borrowing, no risk.
You would think even less intelligent people like Reed would look at Detroit, Buffalo and Harrisburg and realize the risks involved in making a future generation liable for the city debts of today. Who wants to live, work or travel in an area where they are having to pay for past decisions when they can go to an area unencumbered by these obligations. That’s the reason so many people fled the northeast and came to Atlanta in the first place, and will be the reason people start to flee Atlanta, making our house prices similar to those in Detroit or Braddock.
James
January 18th, 2013
5:51 pm
Ownership? Yeah, that means the State of Georgia will have all of the legal liability for anything that goes wrong at the stadium. Arthur Blank however will get all the revenues. Not just from Falcons games, but from all events at the stadium. For that he’ll pay a token amount of rent per year that is equal to 1/200th of the taxpayer cost. The ownership angle is a huge scam. Just more of socializing the risks and privatizing the profits that have become the American Way.
And we should call his bluff on moving to the suburbs. There is no metro government that can come up with the money needed for infrastructure requirements. The old GM site is out of the question because Doraville has stated repeatedly that they don’t want the stadium in their backyard. Blank is painting himself into the corner more and more each day. The only way this goes through is if the Falcons win the Super Bowl and he is very generous to the campaign funds of the majority of members of the legislature.
One thing is for sure, none of us will ever get to vote on this. We the People simply can’t be trusted to make the right decision to enrich a billionaire with a pipeline from the public treasury into his bank account.
If he wants to move the team to Portland or Salt Lake City, let him. Eight to ten games a year aren’t enough to make it worth the price. Besides, we have college football, which is pretty much superior in every way to National Yawn League.
Kris T.
January 18th, 2013
6:04 pm
Fan “”Anyone remember Falcons 1981 playoffs? Repeat coming up”"”
Yeah that was when the Falcons basically forgot how to play football. Kinda looked like it was a fall down…
Shady deal and Ga legislator…..WE NEED JOBS State wide Good paying….Do you understand?
Bye Shady and some of the current GOP slime…
Fan
January 18th, 2013
6:08 pm
@Kris T. – lol. I hear ya. Only a few of us “oldies” remember that one in 1981. We’ll see how they do, as they say, the team that gives up the ball the most usually loses.
Kenman
January 18th, 2013
6:14 pm
Another bogus poll and misleading headline, a Galloway specialty!
Glenn
January 18th, 2013
6:27 pm
Atlanta isn’t getting the Super Bowl because the Falcons play in the GA Dome. Another Super Bowl being played in Atlanta would pump in millions upon millions of dollars into our economy, which will more than help offset any public funds that may be used to build the new stadium. And that would be for just one Super Bowl being played here. New Orleans is playing their 2nd or 3rd at the Super Dome (I believe) so imagine the Return on Investment long term and this is a no-brainer.
Kris T.
January 18th, 2013
6:29 pm
Fan, I made A bad mistake I placed a small bet on them. My bookie was honest and gave back the money, sating I only take bets on real football teams..
Down in flames Sunday…no betting for me….
honested
January 18th, 2013
6:30 pm
Glenn,
Quick, how much money really came into Atlanta as a result of the last super bowl?
Only a fool would assume anything like ‘millions upon millions’.
It never ceases to amaze me the money so called ‘conserrrrrrvatives’ will waste on foolishness while ignoring the costs of real needs.
Buckhead Boy
January 18th, 2013
6:34 pm
Burroughston Broch: “Did you say the same thing about AIG insuring mortgage-based financial instruments before 2008? We all know how well that worked. Come up with another platitude to sell.”
No, I didn’t; because I recognize that there is no equivalency in the writing of financial guaranty insurance and swaps. If, however, you can cite one instance where AMBAC, MBIA or other guarantor has defaulted on a municipal bond issue, I would entertain that your analogy is less than inapt.
td
January 18th, 2013
6:34 pm
honested
January 18th, 2013
6:30 pm
“Quick, how much money really came into Atlanta as a result of the last super bowl?”
Quick how much money have we spent to end poverty since the beginning of the “great society”? How much has our poverty roles lessened since 1965?
rivercard
January 18th, 2013
6:47 pm
Buckhead – I am not sure about the numbers you cited, but will accept those unless research shows otherwise, but surely we can agree revenue bonds are not risk free and it is not unheard of that they default.
honested
January 18th, 2013
6:48 pm
td,
Ameliorating poverty (promoting general welfare) is one of those pesky Constitutional Concerns.
Taxpayer money to provide subsidized sports palaces to for profit companies already exempt from anti-trust statute is not.
I am not disturbed about ameliorating poverty at all.
At the same time, I don’t want to spend a confiscated penny on sports palaces.
td
January 18th, 2013
6:56 pm
honested
January 18th, 2013
6:48 pm
td,
Ameliorating poverty (promoting general welfare) is one of those pesky Constitutional Concerns.
Total BS. Another made up right the progressives invented to turn this nation more socialist.
rivercard
January 18th, 2013
7:11 pm
TD – notice honested never said right, but constitutional concern as those nutty socialist writers of the Constitition included the general welfare in that document you may not be too familiar with.
We can debate government role in promoting general welfare, but if your position is that it is made up then you need to check what was slipped into your tea.
James
January 18th, 2013
7:20 pm
Glenn, thanks for mentioning the Super Dome, which completely disproves that we need a new stadium. The Georgia Dome opened in 1992 while the Super Dome opened in 1975. The Super Dome, including this year, has had seven Super Bowls. If the Falcons have ruined the Georgia Dome while the Saints took care of their stadium, then not only should the Falcons have to build their own new stadium, they should pay the state of Georgia for the stadium they’ve treated so poorly that it must be torn down. Instead of spending $500,000,000 of public money on Blank’s new stadium and all the required public infrastructure, he should be giving that money to the people of the State of Georgia for destroying their stadium.
This is about Blank wanting to show up his other rich friends, most of whom have been more successful in getting public money into their private bank accounts. It’s not about Atlanta, or the Falcons, or the Super Bowl. It’s a contest to see which rich kid has the biggest johnson. If other cities want to be that stupid, let them, but we’re not so insecure here as to open the public treasury for Blank to raid just so we can have one evening in the spotlight.
Burroughston Broch
January 18th, 2013
7:31 pm
@ Buckhead Boy
AMBAC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 8, 2010.
Moody’s downgraded MBIA’s rating all the way from AAA in February 2008 to Caa2 (junk status) last November 19. It is on life support, and 5 days ago the State of New York has prohibited it from making required interest payments.
Neither one is in the financial condition to guarantee bonds.
The ball is back in your court.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
January 18th, 2013
7:32 pm
General welfare is one thing – promoting sloth and laziness is something entirely different.
td
January 18th, 2013
8:03 pm
rivercard
January 18th, 2013
7:11 pm
It may not have actually said “right” but the connotation of the post implies that is what was intended.
If you believe “general welfare” means to take care of or have people dependent on then you are the one that is sadly mistaken.
honested
January 18th, 2013
8:14 pm
td,
If I had meant ‘right’ I would have said so.
You should know by now that I am very interested in speaking clearly and accurately.
Promoting General Welfare is clearly stated in the Constitution and attending to that goal has been an interest of all successful political leaders in our history since it was written.
On the other hand, I do not recall any statements suggesting ‘transferring wealth from the Citizens through the State into the hands of Private individuals for the purpose of self aggrandizement.
If I missed the paragraph, please enlighten me.
Otherwise, the focus of this discussion is the latter, despite the pathetic attachment many on this and other public forums want to display their warped distaste for the former.
rivercard
January 18th, 2013
8:56 pm
James – Couldn’t have said it better and probably not as well.
Kennesaw Fan
January 19th, 2013
1:19 am
Don’t need a new stadium, and really don’t need to get stuck with the so called seat tax that Blank is proposing. Every season ticket holder I have talked to says they will not pay a seat tax to have the “right” to then purchase a season ticket. We will go back to the days when every game was blacked out in Atlanta because they are not sold out. If the toilet bowl that is New Orleans can keep getting Super Bowls in that dump of a dome they have, then we should get one as well without a new stadium. Or not. Who cares?
Buckhead Boy
January 19th, 2013
7:00 am
Burroughston Broch, the troubles of those two companies arose from their RMBS lines. Again, my suggestion was cite one instance of a guarantor defaulting on a municipal bond issue, not endeavor to support an inapt analogy inaptly.
Burroughston Broch
January 19th, 2013
9:15 am
@ Buckhead Boy
I haven’t found one yet, but found this. All of the remaining bond insurers are on financial life support. Warren Buffet got out of the business. The remaining companies are severely weakened and their ability to cover claims are in doubt. While 55% of municipal debt was insured prior to 2007, only 5% of newly-issued municipal debt is insured today.
Looking forward, the odds of insured municipal debt default are much increased (think Jefferson County AL, Harrisburg PA, Stockton CA, etc.). Taking the attitude that it can’t happen here is putting on blinders.
You spend your money on the stadium bonds if you feel so inclined; I’ll put mine elsewhere.
Quackerz
January 19th, 2013
12:48 pm
Take a few moments and learn what building stadiums for the Bengals and Reds is costing taxpayers in Cincinnati. It’s a nightmarish money sinkhole that will drag taxpayers down for decades, and when the economy takes a downturn…..lookout. Just a friendly warning for those inclined to say “yes”.
Randolph Phillips
January 19th, 2013
5:59 pm
The people of Georgia should never have put their money into the Falcons playing field. The Falcons and their billionaire owner should foot the bill, and if they can fool Atlantans and Fulton Countians to help them, that’s Ok too. Let fools and their money be separated.
As for that little $300 million additional bonds the state would pay for on the new dome, The World Congress Center Authority has already gobbled up several Billion dollars taxes from Georgians outside Atlanta because of Jimmy Carter, Tom Murphy, Joe Frank Harris, and Zell Miller. It’s time to let Atanta have that white elephant, which was built in the first place “to save Atlanta” back in the 1970s.
PS: Don’t forget that Roy Barnes and the Democrat legislature signed an agreement with Marcus for the World Congress to take over that big old money pit the “Georgia” Aquarium shortly after ‘Roy got beat for re-election. I think the state will take it over this year, and very shortly taxpayers all over Georgia will be asked to pay for repairs, renovations, and expansions of this moneypit.
Our legislators are picking our pockets for the benefit of downtown Atlanta chain hotels, restaurants, and the “big :picture” scams of the likes of Arthur Blank and the Falcons and The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.