[myztic]

I too think measurements like that are "fair", it is one of THE events in the US, so it makes sense to take special precautions.

That being said, the NFL should pay for this 100%. They should also pay for their stadiums (not threaten local fans / politicians they will move if not being financially supported), and frankly they should pay for any security measures during any NFL games.

The government paying for it is nothing but a quite heavy subsidy they don't need. It's the same though with any big sports league around the world where police / government is handling such affairs and the league is not paying for it.

[Zelphyr]

I have to agree. It's pretty disgusting how the owners threaten cities until they get a new hundreds million dollars stadium, and how the NFL, MLB, and other leagues are complacent in this.

But what's worse, far worse, is how the fans have no problem with their own governments being fleeced. Their tax dollars are used to build the lavish stadiums and then they're expected to pay exorbitant amounts just to go see a game.

Bread and circuses indeed.

[ohsnapman]

The Roman government at least paid for the bread and circuses, right? They didn't ask the populace to pay for the right to pay for circus season tickets ...

[vacri]

The role of government is to govern it's citizens. Major social events should be assisted by the government, in my opinion - if that's what people want to congregate to do, they should be able to do so safely. You'll often see this in smaller-scale events in the form of a few police officers thrown nearby to keep tabs on things.

The NFL could handle a few less sweetheart deals in other areas though, for sure.

[myztic]

Major non-profit community events, yes, major for-profit billion-dollar events where tickets and a commercial slot cost I don't know how much, no!

I have nothing against a city financially supporting some sort of community event, but this clearly is something completely else.