By Sam Wroblewski and Kim Kalunian, WPRO News

A local economist says a new Pawtucket Red Sox stadium in Providence might not deliver on all the promises the team’s new ownership group is making.

“Don’t buy a good story,” Victor Matheson, sports economist and professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, tells WPRO News.

Matheson says research shows using taxpayer money to fund stadiums isn’t justified, and data reveals that new stadiums — major or minor league — rarely have any appreciable effects on employment, taxable sales or personal income.

“This is not a great deal at all,” said Matheson. “All you’re doing is relocating economic activity a few miles down the road. Yeah, it might benefit Providence a little bit, but for every dollar spent in Providence, that’s a dollar less spent in Pawtucket.”

The Associated Press reports PawSox investor James Skeffington is working on an economic impact study on the proposed Triple-A baseball stadium; a snapshot of that study is set to be done by April.

“It certainly is likely to be a boon to their bottom line,” said Matheson of Skeffington’s group. “The fact that they have to, or feel compelled to ask for money for their investment must mean they think that it’s not a very good investment on their own.”

The new PawSox ownership group has said they plan to privately fund the stadium, but might ask for a tax break.

Matheson said the stadium will only be successful if it is privately funded.