Pro sports teams rarely benefit local economies, and in some cases they actually hurt them, according to a paper by Dennis Coates and Brad Humphreys, University of Maryland, Baltimore County economics professors. "The level of per capita income (PCI) is either unaffected or reduced by the presence of professional sports teams," says Coates, who points out that, at a minimum, PCI should increase if stadiums and teams are in fact engines of economic growth and vitality. Coates: Email: coates@umbc.edu. Url: http://research.umbc.edu/~coates/work/v698.pdf. News Contact: Charlie Melichar, UMBC, Email: melichar@umbc.edu; Phone: 410-455-6380