Brad "Pencil Necked Geek" Humphreys

Not satisfied with the size of the KC subsidies, IN decided to go all in.

Arena subsidies have real opportunity costs

For reference, the taxpayer subsidy to Lucas Oil Stadium is ~$1 billion in 2024 dollars, which covered 86% of the construction costs. There is no reasonable policy case to justify the use of public resources here. None.

NY Times, you erroneously omitted an " i " in both instances.

Dislike 👎

Here's a link to an ungated version of the paper (good for 50 days)
kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

Title page of research article

My paper with Alex Tsiukes ("London traffic congestion and premier league football matches") is now out in Transportation Research Part A. Here's the abstract

The solution for tanking is to eliminate the draft. Problem solved. Sign rookies like free agents, with the cap in place.

If you're worried about a good team acquiring the best rookies too cheap (b/c of rookie scale), then modify the rookie cap rules to allow more competition for the best rookies.

Curious what research projects the
@Arnold_Ventures
Criminal Justice team is funding? Here is a list of projects funded in Q4 of 2025:

What would MLB look like with a salary cap? Explaining the wide-ranging, game-changing effects From free agency to guaranteed contracts to franchise values, a salary cap would completely remake the MLB landscape.

Nice issue overview.
www.nytimes.com/athletic/704...

Bowser prepares D.C. Council for fiscal pain, tough policy trade-offs Administration officials say that to run programs and services as they are today would require $1.1 billion more in revenue.

But she was able to find $1.5 billion to hand over to the local sports teams for new/renovated luxury venues. Your fiscal pain is her luxury box access.

Another one — we don’t have nearly as many contacts in Arizona or New Mexico, so if you’re in the area and able to share this around please do! #houndsky

Foster application is here: www.coonhoundrescue.com/FOSTER.html

My president for the past 10+ years. 🤮

A Small University Bet Big on Enrolling Athletes. Now It Will Close. As Lourdes University, a private institution in Ohio, expanded sports teams, it did bring new students to campus. But overall enrollment continued to decline.

Lourdes College in Ohio bet that adding more athletic teams would save them from closing.

Now, its closing because athletics costs money.

@erickelderman.bsky.social has been covering this story for over a year.

www.chronicle.com/article/a-sm...

Montana LB Tuliaupupu granted 9th year of eligibility by NCAA Montana linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu will return for the 2026 season after being granted a ninth year of eligibility by the NCAA.

I hope that a college athlete getting a ninth year of eligibility has already defended their dissertation proposal.

🤦‍♂️

A leading scholar on the economics of reparations, stratification economics, and much more.

Great to have you active here, Dr. @sandydarity.bsky.social!

This is why stadium proposals should always be put to a public vote. A majority of the electorate won't fit in the owners box, but the city council will.

hey #econsky, check this out: seminar-dry-run.vercel.app from @plausiblyexog.bsky.social. Very cool way to train for seminars: AI listens to your presentation, asks you questions, and then provides you with feedback!

Ungated version: t.co/o5BQvsyOHw

substack.com/@abio/note/c...?

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My article (with @bradhumphreys.bsky.social ) "Yes, There is an Economic Consensus That Professional Sports Facilities are Inadvisable Public Investments" is now published in Economic Development Quarterly. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

This is insane.

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Recent Danish paper suggests that transit's first-mile/last-mile discourse is overblown.

Pretty much any FM/LM "solution" fails to improve total welfare for distances <1km.

A big reason: Walking is really healthy!

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Rutgers has an athletic department deficit of over $500 million since joining the Big Ten. Buy Rutgers bonds before The Big Short 2.