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In some cases, these stadiums bring a lot of money into the area, but in many of those cases it isn't enough to offset the cost associated with the tax breaks/tax money spent. The city of St. Louis is still paying more than $6 million per year in debt and taxes for the stadium they built for the Rams and the Rams are no longer even in that city. Another good example is the big, beautiful stadium they just built for the Florida Marlins. That new stadium helped skyrocket the value of the team then the owner sold it. Sure, the stadium might eventually turn a profit and turn out to be a decent investment, but the team owner basically gamed the system and padded his pockets.
In short, sometimes they are a good investment for cities, sometimes they aren't. The reality is these team owners didn't get filthy rich giving their money away so if they can get a deal that includes a ton of free tax money, you know they are going to take it and some cities are willing to give it to them for the perceived value of having the team there.
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