February 24, 2003
Portland weighs stadium-for-casino plan
Into the fray over where to move the Montreal Expos has stepped the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, a consortium of coastal Oregon Indian tribes that is offering to back the cost of a $350 million stadium if the state lets them build a mammoth casino nearby. As Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus points out, while it's at least not as ill-conceived as Northern Virginia's pie-in-the-sky economic projections, government-by-baksheesh is still an ugly prospect. (It's also worth noting that casinos, like stadiums, can fall victim to the "substitution effect" whereby casino spending cannibalizes other local consumer spending - so that Oregon's tax base could end up carrying the load of a casino-financed stadium anyway.)
February 23, 2003
Phils, Eagles stiffing city on box revenue
When the city of Philadelphia spent $8 million to build luxury boxes at Veterans Stadium for the Phillies and Eagles in 1985, the deal was that the teams would start sharing the proceeds starting in 2001. Only two problems: 1) the teams have refused to pay the city its share, expected to be upwards of $4 million a year; 2) the Vet is slated to be torn down this fall anyway, at which point there will be no more box money to share. "The amazing thing," city controller Jonathan Saidel told the Philadelphia Inquirer, "is that we made a deal to build the boxes, and at the time set in the future when we would begin to get the revenue, the full-court press comes into effect that the teams needed new stadiums."
February 18, 2003
The acronyms that never sleep
With its $3 billion tax increment financing (TIF) plan for building a West Side Olympic/football stadium development facing widespread criticism as unworkable, the city of New York is quietly planning to revamp its financing scheme, according to an article in yesterday's Crain's NY Business. The new plan: Something called payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT), whereby land is turned over to a public authority, and developers pay fees "in lieu of" property taxes. "The precise structure may be different than a classic TIF, but the concept of using incremental revenues generated in the area is still exactly what we're planning to do," deputy mayor (and West Side landholder) Dan Doctoroff told Crain's. "The name will be different." Hey, there's an idea: maybe they can even cut a naming rights deal.
February 08, 2003
Selig to A's: Demand stadium
MLB commissioner-for-life Bud Selig appears to be stuck in perma-threat mode: On Thursday, America's most famous former used car salesman took a break from trying to shake down cities for a new home for the Montreal Expos to declare that a new stadiumfor the Oakland A's is "a high priority for us," noting that small-market teams without new stadiums had been the ones being considered for contraction. (Selig did not mention that contraction is prohibited by the new collective bargaining agreement signed last September, which runs through 2007.) A's owner Steve Schott, though, seemed less than eager to take up the new-stadium banner: "At this time, with the state of the economy, the city and county facing deficits, it isn't practical to pursue a stadium," said Schott. "That's why we signed the five-year lease with the Coliseum. Hopefully, for everybody's sake, things will get better economically in the next couple of years." Note to Bud: Set your alarm for four years from now.
Goodbye Comiskey
Get ready for U.S. Cellular Field: the Chicago White Sox have cut a deal to fund renovations to Comiskey Park (not to be confused with the real Comiskey Park) by selling naming rights to the telecommunications company for $68 million over 20 years. The only problem: planned renovations could cost as much as $50 million in present-day dollars, which with interest would add up to well over $68 million. The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority - which actually owns the building that the Sox are selling the rights to, but wouldn't see any of the increased profits - could yet be asked to kick in even more money, or loan guarantees, to sweeten the deal.
