Would You Pay $84 Million for the Next Wal-Mart?

By now, almost everyone has seen or heard the number $138 million as the amount of “economic activity” that would be lost each year in Arizona if the Chicago Cubs ceased spring training in the state. This comes from a study paid for by the City of Mesa which, along with help from the state, is proposing to develop a new spring training facility using $84 million in public funds. Economic activity is basically the money spent due to some particular enterprise. A far more significant number is the amount of revenue that would flow into public coffers because of this economic activity. According to the same Mesa study, the amount of state tax revenue generated annually by Cubs related spending is slightly less than $5 million. Put another way, Cubs spring training creates about the same tax revenue as a typical Wal-Mart store. While this is by no means an insignificant sum, it is worth noting that Wal-Mart uses their own money to build their own stores.