New evidence indicates that sports fans who vote to subsidize sports arenas with their taxpayer dollars quite possibly could be denied entry at the gate.

• On opening day this year, 61,000 San Diego Padres fans packed the local stadium to watch their baseball team's opening day -- and looked forward to the opening of the new $411 million facility they approved, which is scheduled to open in 2002.

• But it will only seat 42,000 fans -- leaving 19,000 of those taxpayers and sports fans to watch the game at home.

Cato Institute economist Raymond J. Keating cites two studies that support the argument that tax-subsidized sports arenas are a bad bet for cities.

• According to North Carolina State University economist Michael Walden, cities with major league sports teams actually grew more slowly in the period 1990 to 1994.

• University of Maryland economists Dennis Coates and Brad Humphries found that cities with new ballparks actually showed a $100 drop in per capita income.

Whether or not there is a cause-and-effect relationship, expensive new tax-supported sports complexes do lead to higher ticket prices -- and that is not good for either taxpayers or fans.

Source: Joseph Perkins (San Diego Union-Tribune), "Pricing Fans Away From the Game," Washington Times, April 17, 1999.