The real fight over new arenas usually isn’t the building —

The real fight over new arenas usually isn’t the building — it’s the surrounding cash machine. Philly developers openly talking about pulling tailgaters inside to spend more tells you the game now is bars, restaurants, real estate, and year-round foot traffic, not just ticket sales. Cities keep betting public money on “economic impact,” while more fans are starting to ask why billionaires don’t just finance their own scoreboard palace.