Executive
Waste of the Day: Upcoming Soccer Match Will Cost New Jersey Taxpayers $750,000
New Jersey taxpayers will spend $750,000 on a soccer exhibition game that already has ample corporate sponsorship.
Topline: Taxpayers in New Jersey will spend $750,000 to help bring an exhibition soccer game to Red Bull Arena in Harrison on July 31, even though the match is sponsored by the multibillion-dollar energy drink giant.
Why $750,000 on a soccer match?
Key facts: The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority will cover the costs of bringing England’s Aston Villa team for the match, according to NJ.com. The Germany-based football club RB Leipzig, owned by Red Bull, will also travel to New Jersey to play the English team.
The state expects the game to generate $6 million in economic benefits and bring media attention to the city of Harrison, but it’s unclear why Red Bull can’t pay for it themselves. The company is worth $18.9 billion, per Forbes.
A spokeswoman for the state was reportedly evasive when asked by NJ.com if public money will also be spent on future sports games, such as the World Cup final coming to New Jersey in 2026.
Supporting quote: A state spokesperson told NJ.com the soccer game expense is justified because Red Bull “remains responsible for a majority of the costs of the event.”
“On occasion [the state] provides assistance to New Jersey venues to help attract and secure marquee sporting events [that] benefit the state by increasing tourism, generating significant tax revenue and facilitating job creation.”
Critical quote: “I don’t think there should be any public entities giving money to anybody for stuff like that,” Harrison Mayor James Fife told NJ.com. “Red Bull is a multi-billion-dollar corporation and those two [teams will] probably sell out the arena.”
Expenses outweigh the benefits
Background: The soccer game’s economic benefits won’t entirely offset the amount New Jersey taxpayers spend on payroll at the Sports and Exposition Authority.
The agency’s 91 employees collectively earned just under $8 million last year, according to records at OpenTheBooks.com.
Senior Vice President John Duffy led the way with a $200,000 salary, and 25 others earned six figures.
Search all federal, state and local government salaries and vendor spending with the AI search bot, Benjamin, at OpenTheBooks.com.
Summary: The soccer match is a “friendly” that won’t count toward either team’s record. The only number that will change is the one in New Jersey’s bank account.
The #WasteOfTheDay is brought to you by CEO & founder, Adam Andrzejewski, with Jeremy Portnoy. Learn more at OpenTheBooks.com.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.
Adam Andrzejewski (say: Angie-eff-ski) was the CEO/founder of OpenTheBooks.com. Before dedicating his life to public service, Adam co-founded HomePages Directories, a $20 million publishing company (1997-2007). His works have been featured on the BBC, Good Morning America, ABC World News Tonight, C-SPAN, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, FOX News, CNN, National Public Radio (NPR), Forbes, Newsweek, and many other national media.
Today, OpenTheBooks.com is the largest private repository of U.S. public-sector spending. Mission: post "every dime, online, in real time." In 2022, OpenTheBooks.com captured nearly all public expenditures in the country, including nearly all disclosed federal government spending; 50 of 50 state checkbooks; and 25 million public employee salary and pension records from 50,000 public bodies across America.
The group's aggressive transparency and forensic auditing of government spending has led to the assembly of grand juries, indictments, and successful prosecutions; congressional briefings, hearings, and subpoenas; Government Accountability Office (GAO) audits; Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports; federal legislation; and much more.
Our Honorary Chairman - In Memoriam is U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, MD.
Andrzejewski's federal oversight work was included in the President's Budget To Congress FY2021. The budget cited his organization by name, bullet-pointed their findings, and footnoted/hyperlinked to their report.
Posted on YouTube, Andrzejewski's presentation, The Depth of the Swamp, at the Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar 2020 in Naples, Florida received 3.8 million views.
Andrzejewski has spoken at the Columbia School of Journalism, Harvard Law School and the law schools at Georgetown and George Washington regarding big data journalism. As a senior policy contributor at Forbes, Adam had nearly 20 million pageviews on 206 published investigations. In 2022, investigative fact-finding on Dr. Fauci's finances led to his cancellation at Forbes.
In 2022, Andrzejewski did 473 live television and radio interviews across broadcast, major cable platforms, and radio shows. Andrzejewski is the author of The Waste of the Day column at Real Clear Policy. The column is syndicated by Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of nearly 200 ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX affiliates across USA.
Andrzejewski passed away in his sleep at his home in in Hinsdale, Illinois, on August 18, 2024. He is survived by his wife Kerry and three daughters. He also served as a lector at St. Isaac Jogues Catholic Church and finished the Chicago Marathon eight times (PR 3:58.49 in 2022).
Waste of the Day articles published after August 18, 2024 are considered posthumous publications.
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