Since 1982, taxpayers in cities across the United States have shelled out $5 billion to build new professional sports facilities. Now Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner wants New York City to subsidize a new Manhattan ballpark development with an estimated $1 billion price tag, says researcher Mark S. Rosentraub. A decision not to replace the Yankees' Bronx stadium at taxpayers' expense could affect professional sports financing nationally, says Rosentraub.

The Yankees are the richest team in baseball, earning $28 million more than any other team in Major League Baseball in 1996.

• In fact, when baseball teams in other cities demand new ballparks, a driving force is the need to earn more to compete with the Yankees.

• Steinbrenner says fans don't want to attend games at the old stadium, but the Yankees will make huge sums regardless of attendance due to their 12-year, $500 million cable and television contract -- the biggest in history for a sports franchise.

• Rosentraub says the Yankees could afford to finance a new stadium costing as much as $500 million and still make a profit of $7 million to $32 million a year.

Furthermore, he says the team is unlikely to move outside the metropolitan New York area because it cannot make as much money in a smaller market. In 1996, the Yankees earned $60.1 million inside their "obsolete" stadium. While other teams with sweetheart leases make as much or more inside their new stadiums, the Yankees also earned $69.8 million from their radio and television contracts, twice as much as any other team.

The economic impact would be minimal if New Jersey lured the Yankees next door, says Rosentraub. In no U.S. county do professional sports generate more than 0.5 percent of all jobs, most of which are low-paying service sector positions. In New York, all pro sports teams combined account for just 0.4 percent of the city's economy.