Taxpayers Subsidizing the Super Bowl

From AZCentral today: Did you know that Scottsdale taxpayers have footed a bill in the range of a million dollars to the Super Bowl 2015 ‘host committee?’ This money is supposed to pay for a big party (obviously no one would be partying in Scottsdale during the Super Bowl), and to encourage attendees to stay in Scottsdale hotels during the time of the Super Bowl. As if Scottsdale hotels wouldn’t be completely sold out WITHOUT the subsidy.

Now the ‘host committee’ is announcing that it’s giving some of that money back to Arizona communities in the form of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) “Super Hero Awards.”

Recognizing educational excellence and innovation is certainly a laudable activity, but why do the taxpayers of Scottsdale need to hire the Super Bowl ‘host committee’ to do it…taking a sizeable haircut in the process? It’s all about the PR. Mayor Jim Lane, the Scottsdale City Council (including incumbent ‘Republicans’ Linda Milhaven and Dennis Robbins), and all the other crony capitalists get to hide their largess behind a feel-good noble cause.