A new Tennessee Titans stadium will cost an estimated $2 billion with half coming from taxpayers. Residents and visitors are mixed on the idea, but economists call it a bad deal.

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While the Cowan brothers are excited, Pat Garofalo says it’s not really a smart use of taxpayer dollars. Garofalo is director for state and local policy for a public subsidy watchdog called the American Economic Liberties Project.

“Stadiums simply do not do what they are supposed to do in terms of providing economic benefit to the community on any metric that we actually care about,” Garofalo said. “Good jobs, sustainable income, sustainable tax revenue — stadiums just fail.”

Garofalo says using public funds to finance new stadiums is not a new trend. The city of Las Vegas approved $750 million to entice the Raiders to relocate from Oakland.

“The same kind of goofy idea that Las Vegas needed a football stadium to attract visitors because nobody was going to Las Vegas. And it’s just, like, they put tons of money into it. I don’t think there’s any evidence that it actually paid off in any real way for the citizens.”

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Experts like Leeds and Garofalo say these jobs aren’t high-paying or long-lasting. If Nashville follows through with its commitment, it’ll be one of the largest public subsidies for a stadium yet.