Note that those studies looked at stadiums for all major sports. NFL venues, which cost more and are used less, tend to fare worse economically.

Yet a new Chargers stadium really looks bad compared to other public uses for the Qualcomm site. Leading the pack, by far, is higher education.

Expanding on a classic 1956 paper by Nobel Laureate Robert Solow, economists since the 1990s have argued that boosting “human capital” is key to further economic growth once basic resources, like money and raw materials, are in place. Put simply, building knowledge builds a better economy.

I guess I'm probably not going to be popular either but paying over $1 billion in public funds just doesn't give me the feel goods. We owe it to our kids to build a better and brighter future with great economic benefits. Rooting for a sports team that won't proportionally give back it its fans, count me out for ANY tax increase.