March 31, 2004
That'll show 'em
New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority president George Zoffinger has told the New York Post that if New York City goes ahead with luring the Jets and Nets across the river with subsidies, "I could come up with a very aggressive plan for a baseball stadium and shop that to the Yankees and the Mets." This isn't likely to lure either team to relocate to New Jersey (especially given Zoffinger's previously stated convictions on subsidizing billionaires), but it could do wonders for the two baseball teams' faltering campaigns for donations from the Big Apple treasury. It would also make Arthur Rolnick very, very sad.
Ratner mulls moving arena
An aide to New Jersey Nets owner-in-waiting Bruce Ratner has said that the developer has asked architect Frank Gehry if his Brooklyn arena plan can be tweaked to require demolishing fewer homes. It's not clear much can be done here, since without the neighboring block of housing Gehry would have to fit a 400-foot-wide arena on a 200-foot-wide lot - but clearly Ratner was spooked by Sunday's protest by Develop Don't Destroy, which has retained former NYCLU director Norman Siegel to represent residents who face eviction to make way for the arena project.
March 30, 2004
MN stadiums bill moves forward
A second Minnesota house committee has approved Gov. Tim Pawlenty's $700 million stadium bill for the Twins and Vikings, the Governmental Operations and Veterans Affairs Policy Committee passing the bill along "without recommendation." Next up: the Tax Committee, which one hopes will actually have an opinion of the thing.
Oh, those revenues
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on his proposed $1.4 billion Jets stadium, February 10: "We can rent it out for eight-odd Sundays a year for somebody that's going to pay us $600, $700, $800 million. This would be the best rental anybody has ever done in the history of the world."
Jets stadium czar Jay Cross on WFAN's "Mike and the Mad Dog" show yesterday, asked if the Jets would get the revenue from concerts and other events at a Manhattan stadium as well: "Yes, because we will incur all the costs of operating the building."
In other Bloomberg news, the mayor said he'd still like to build stadiums for the Mets and Yankees, but not if the city has to pay half the $1.6 billion combined cost, as his predecessor Rudy Giuliani had offered. Bloomberg also revealed he plans to investigate the complete exemption from city property taxes that Cablevision has been getting on Madison Square Garden since 1982, when the Knicks and Rangers agreed not to leave town; the total cost to city coffers since then has run more than $200 million, enough to completely reimburse MSG for its renovation in the late 1980s. Given that the tax break was originally supposed to sunset in 1992, but no one bothered to repeal it at the time, we're less inclined to think that Mayor Mike just got around to noticing, and more inclined to believe that this is political payback.
March 29, 2004
Norfolk says TIFs will pay
Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim says that tax increment financing would pay for two-thirds of the cost of a stadium to lure the Montreal Expos south, with $225 million of the $343 million total cost coming from stadium-related sales and income taxes. The state of Minnesota only expects to raise half that amount in TIFs for a Twins ballpark, but of course Minnesota is already getting stadium taxes from the Metrodome, so Fraim's calculations might not be far off - except, of course, for the usual problems with sales-tax TIFs.
Bloomberg: Cablevision doesn't want Jets stadium
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg went on an expected tirade yesterday against Cablevision, owners of the Knicks, Rangers and Madison Square Garden, saying that the cable company is opposing his planned Jets West Side stadium for fear of competition for events. "The biggest guys that are making a fuss here, are plain and simple, Cablevision -- the Dolans," the mayor told Newsday. "It is an outrage that you let your own personal economics, or economic interests stop a major project in this city."
Bloomberg went on to say that he'd be willing to renovate Madison Square Garden, which Newsday notes is "one of the NBA's oldest arenas," but fails to note got a $200 million facelift in the late 1980s, for which Cablevision has already been paid more than $200 million in tax breaks.
March 28, 2004
Pens slam private arena plan
To the surprise of no one, the Pittsburgh Penguins aren't happy with the city's discussions to build a new NHL arena without public money. The $150 million price tag is too low, says team president Ken Sawyer (though as noted earlier, it's about what Columbus' new Nationwide Arena cost to build), while using arena revenues to pay off construction debt would be (in the words of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) "highly unattractive to the team's investors." The Penguins' preferred source of arena funds? Slot machines, which seems like taking "gambling with other people's money" a bit too literally.
March 26, 2004
NYC to divert housing $ for Hudson Yards?
More details are trickling in on New York's Hudson Yards plan: The latest is that the city's $350 million share of an expanded Javits Convention Center would be paid for by raiding PILOTs (surely you remember PILOTs) paid to the Battery Park City Authority, which have previously gone toward building low-income housing. State assembly speaker Sheldon Silver immediately declared that he wouldn't stand for any pilfering of Battery Park City money, calling the proposal "a blatant slap in the face to the people who lived through the tragic events of September 11, 2001."
Pittsburgh mulls private arena proposal
Pittsburgh-area elected officials have reportedly discussed with the private sports management consortium Sports Finance & Management Group a plan to build a no-frills $150 million arena for the Penguins using private money. While Penguins execs have griped that they'd need pricier digs, this would be about the same price paid by the Columbus Blue Jackets for their much-admired Nationwide Arena, which was 90% privately funded.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has proposed a $585 million subsidy to developer Bruce Ratner for a Nets arena, was not immediately available for comment.
Marlins stadium pitch: One down, legislature to go
The latest on the Florida Marlins' bid for $60 million in state sales tax rebates to fund a new stadium: Gov. Bush digs it, the state senate president doesn't. Marlins prez David Samson nonetheless expressed faith that a deal was possible, noting: "We have 38 days. Didn't it take God like seven to do the whole Earth?" Now we know he's taking his name too seriously.
March 25, 2004
Cowboys gear up stadium campaign
In anticipation of a possible stadium referendum in November, the Dallas Cowboys have sent mass mailings to Dallas County voters claiming that a new stadium would generate $300 million in economic impact and "thousands of new jobs." With the Cowboys asking for $550 million in public money, even "thousands" of jobs would mean around $100,000 in subsidies for every job created, which is a ratio that economists call "sucky."
Marlins ask Jeb for sales tax break
Having more or less struck out in Miami, Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria headed to Tallahassee yesterday in the search for public funding for a new stadium. (Apparently the capital of Florida is Tallahassee. Who knew?) Loria is asking for $60 million in state funds, including $2 million a year in sales tax rebates, plus the diversion of a previous tax rebate approved for a yet-to-be-built Orlando Magic arena. Because, you know, it's not like Florida has anything else to do with the money.
Study: Stadiums can (almost) pay their own way
Here's the kind of spin you don't see every day: University of Dayton economists Marc Poitras and Larry Hadley have released a study claiming that privately funded baseball stadiums would (in the words CBS Sportsline) generate enough revenues to pay "all or nearly all the cost of construction" within 12 years. Leaving aside some methodological issues - for one thing, the study assumes a $268 million stadium cost, which is extraordinarily low - the question remains why anyone would want to invest hundreds of millions of dollars of their own money just to almost break even.
Jets stadium inches forward
A news conference is scheduled for this morning at which New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki are expected to announce another piece in the puzzle that is the $5.7 billion Hudson Yards plan. According to Newsday, the memorandum of understanding (MOU) will call for a $1.50-a-room hotel tax hike to raise $500 million to expand the Jacob Javits Convention Center. What won't be revealed: How the city would pay for its $300 million share of the convention center project (Newsday says "bonding and bank loans," which is a bit like saying "I'm paying for my new car by putting it on my credit card"); how the city and state will raise $300 million apiece for their share of a $1.4 billion stadium (the most expensive in history, if you're playing along at home) for the New York Jets; how the Jets will raise $800 million in private money for the project ("The financing is still to be worked out, but we're confident that it will be in place," said a Jets exec); how much the Jets will pay the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for air rights over the railyards where the stadium would be built; or how much God will be paid for agreeing to illuminate the stadium with beams of light from heaven.
March 23, 2004
Pay no attention to that dome behind the curtain
The Minnesota state legislature began debating Gov. Tim Pawlenty's Twins and Vikings stadium bills today, leaving Pawlenty's chief of staff, Dan McElroy, to explain just why the state should kick in upwards of $300 million to the project. When one state rep criticized Pawlenty's plan for tax increment financing, saying it would be "a terrible, terrible precedent" that could lead other businesses to demand similar subsidies, McElroy replied: "There's a true 'but for' test here. I think it's unlikely that Alex Rodriguez would come to Minnesota and pay the taxes on his salary but for the existence of a baseball stadium." Uh, Dan? Aren't you forgetting something?
With your nose cut off, how does your face smell?
Derek Zumsteg of Baseballprospectus.com (article for paid subscribers only) estimates that the other 29 MLB teams will end up spending at least $130 million running the Montreal Expos once their third straight season as wards of the state is through. "That probably wouldn't build a stadium anywhere near a metro market that could support a team well," writes Zumsteg. "It almost certainly would have allowed them to complete the financing to fill the gap in Portland, though, and probably in Northern Virginia as well. If baseball had gone to D.C. with that kind of money, they could almost certainly have gotten that deal done, too. It might even have been able to revive baseball in Quebec for that matter." The way his Plan A is going, maybe Bud Selig should have just tried the CD trick.
March 21, 2004
MN teams to guarantee STIF?
More on that odd sales-tax increment financing plan that Minnesota Gov. Pawlenty wants to use for the state's share of Twins and Vikings stadiums: The Star Tribune's invaluable Jay Weiner reports that only the marginal increase in tax revenues over those currently collected at the Metrodome would be used, and that the teams would have to agree to pay any shortfall if revenues don't rise by $7 million a year as projected. Such a plan would still leave the state open to economic losses - how to guarantee, for example, that the new stadium revenues aren't being cannibalized from other parts of the local economy, as people buy more stadium hot dogs and fewer Happy Meals? - but even so, it seems unlikely to pass muster with the teams, who are already griping about being asked to pay one-third of contruction costs out of their own pockets.
March 19, 2004
Expos decision not near
MLB exec John McHale Jr. says he doubts a decision on relocation of the Montreal Expos will be made by this July, as had been previously promised. "I don't know anything right now that would lead me to suggest to you that you should look for an announcement at the All-Star Game," McHale tells the Washington Post. We are shocked, shocked.
Jets stadium to snag on air rights sale?
New York deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff may have figured out a way of getting his $5.7 billion Hudson Yards Jets-stadium-and-convention-center-expansion-and-subway-line-and-kitchen-sink plan without state legislative approval, but it still could be kayoed by one state assemblyman. The catch: Doctoroff's demand for a land swap with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, where the MTA would give up an estimated $1.7 billion worth of air rights over its rail yards for free, in exchange for the city building an extension of the #7 subway line that the MTA doesn't want. This swap would require approval of both State Sen. Dean Skelos and State Assemb. Catherine Nolan, who wield vetoes as members of the MTA Capital Program Review Board. Nolan's boss - and if you doubt that he's her boss, you don't understand New York politics - State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, tells the New York Times: "I'm not convinced we need a stadium on the West Side and as such I don't think the 7 is the kind of thing that is important to development."
Now, in the same Times article, Jets stadium czar Jay Cross is quoted as saying that the stadium could go forward without the new subway line, but it's not as simple as that: Without the land swap, the city would need a way to pay for the air rights, since the stadium is set to be built over part of the rail yards. Given that the city still hasn't figured out how to pay for the stadium itself, this could get interesting.
March 18, 2004
Voters forget to say "Simon says"
And from the Arguments We Wish We'd Thought Of In 2000 Department: A day after Bloomington, Illinois voters overwhelmingly rejected a nonbinding referendum to build a new $35.2 million minor-league hockey arena, Mayor Judy Markowitz said the project will go forward anyway. Why? Because while 66% of voters cast "no" votes, only 10% of residents voted, meaning the vote didn't really represent a majority. But we bet everyone in town turned out for that 1997 mayoral election, hmm?
Don't take my money, please!
Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad has chimed in on Gov. Tim Pawlenty's proposal to have state and local governments pay for two-thirds of new stadiums for the Twins and Vikings: It's not enough. "[Public money] is where it should come from," the billionaire banker said Tuesday. "Gate receipts and taxes." Vikes president Gary Woods likewise thought paying one-third of stadium costs was too steep for his team, though he added that it was "not the ultimate stumbling block" to approving a deal.
Take my money, please!
With the Florida Marlins having rejected potential stadium sites at the Miami Arena and the Orange Bowl, Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess says the team should look for a new site out near the county line. If no site is found by May 1, opined Burgess, the team would have no choice but to leave South Florida: ''It's a business decision I think the team would have to make." Arne? Arne Carlson, is that you?
TIF tiff
An excellent primer on the fallacies of tax increment financing from St. Paul Pioneer Press columnist Edward Lotterman: "My wife and I have often talked about a small addition that would extend the back porch the full width of the house ... It would be nice if the government would give us the money to do this. The value of the house would increase and so would our taxes. The higher taxes would pay the government back eventually, so it wouldn't cost taxpayers anything. ... It seems like a great idea, but for some reason the government is not willing to step up to our plate. We threatened to move to Portland or Charlotte if we don't get help, but officials just laughed."
Everett Dirksen watch
Bill Dowling, general manager of the minor-league New Britain Rock Cats, says the biggest hurdle developer John Alevizos faces with his plan to move the Montreal Expos to central Connecticut is getting the approval of 75% of MLB teams: "[George] Steinbrenner and John Henry would never approve of another major league team coming to an area where they draw a large percentage of fans." Guess that makes finding $400 million or so to buy the team and build a stadium Alevizos' second-biggest hurdle.
March 17, 2004
They're dropping like fumbles
One day into Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty's twin-stadium campaign, and already one of the bidders has dropped out: the suburb of Eden Prairie announced that it was withdrawing its bid to build a stadium for the Vikings, saying Pawlenty's financing plan wasn't to their liking. This leaves only one potential Vikings location, Anoka County, of the two recommended by the governor's Stadium Screening Committee in January.
Kohl: Bucks need new arena, eventually
U.S. Senator - and Milwaukee Bucks owner - Herbert Kohl has declared that he wants a new arena by the year 2012. Why not sooner? "The community is not in the mood to talk about a new facility," explained Kohl. (He failed to add: "But I am.") In the meantime, Kohl said he'd be happy with an increased share of concessions and club-seat revenue at the 16-year-old Bradley Center, where the Bucks currently play rent-free.
March 16, 2004
Expos follies (cont'd)
The latest news on our friends the hey-we're-still-in-Montreal Expos:
- Portland, just last summer considered one of the front-runners to land the Expos, is fading fast, with none of the leading candidates in the May 18 mayoral primary showing much interest in funding a baseball stadium. "I don't believe it's a priority for our city," City Commissioner Jim Francesconi told The Oregonian. "Before I could even consider supporting a deal, I'd have to see private money ready to be invested."
- Northern Virginia, which fell off the front-runners list last summer after no cities there wanted any part of a baseball stadium, is scrambling to get back in contention, appointing a seven-member commission to, well, see what can be done. According to the Washington Post, "the authority is making a push to incorporate a private developer into a mixed-use project surrounding a proposed new ballpark." Best of luck.
- And we have a new dark horse in the race: Developer John Alevizos says he's offered to buy the Expos and move them to a privately funded stadium in central Connecticut, where they'd be renamed the Connecticut Colonials. "My optimism has no bounds," Alevizos told the Hartford Courant. Apparently.
With MLB's latest really-we-mean-it deadline for moving the 'Spos just four months away, we've inaugurated a new service for our readers: the Expos Relocation Odds chart, which will live in the right-hand column of this website and be periodically updated until the Expos' future is resolved, or the sun exhausts its fuel and goes dark, whichever comes first. (Note in the over/under section that we're projecting the sun to last longer, but just barely.)
Jets analyze self
Note to journalists: If you're going to rehash a press release, you might want to at least read it first. Yesterday, the New York cable news channel NY1 reported that the New York City Council Finance Committee had issued an economic analysis finding that a New York Jets stadium on Manhattan's West Side "would end up paying for itself," generating more than enough revenue to pay off the expected $600 million in public costs. Within the hour, it had been revealed that the "study" had in fact been put together entirely by committee chair David Weprin, based on data provided by, well, er, the Jets. In 2001. Replied councilmember Christine Quinn, whose district includes the proposed stadium site: "An independent economic analysis of the stadium would be a great thing and would add to a public discourse on the stadium - what was released today was not."
Pawlenty flip-flops on MN stadium plans
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, after a delay of more than a month, finally submitted his recommendations for building new stadiums for the Twins and Vikings, though it's more a sketch than a plan. Among the highlights:
- The public would pay about two-thirds of the stadium costs, which are likely to total more than $1 billion.
- As requested by the Twins, the state would redirect sales and income taxes from the stadiums to pay off construction costs. Two weeks ago, a spokesman for the governor had said of this proposal, known as sales tax increment financing or STIF: "I know the governor won't be supportive."
- Cities would not be required to hold public referenda before spending local tax money on stadiums. One month ago, Pawlenty had called referenda his "strong preference."
- Team owners would be required to kick back an unspecified share of any profits from any sale of the teams, to help pay off the public's costs. We haven't been able to find any major promises Pawlenty was reversing course on here, but hey, the night's still young.
March 15, 2004
If at first you don't drop dead...
The Florida Marlins' self-imposed deadline to have a new stadium deal in place came and went today, at which point the ballclub promptly ... set a new deadline of May 1. Team president David Samson - who'd memorably said last month that the March 15 deadline was "firm, not flaccid" - now says: "We're confident that 45 days from now, we'll stand before you celebrating the Florida Marlins staying in South Florida." Or at least announcing another deadline.
Brewers sales tax fails
Breaking new ground in stadium buyers' remorse, the Wisconsin state senate voted Friday to impose a 5% sales tax on any sale of the Milwaukee Brewers, which could raise more than $10 million to help retire public debt on the $400 million Miller Park. We'll probably never find out if such a tax would be legal, though - the Republican-controlled state assembly has declared it won't consider the bill when it goes back into session tomorrow, effectively killing it.
March 14, 2004
Shilling for Schott
MLB kingpin Bud Selig chimed in on the Oakland A's stadium situation yesterday, saying that the team's four straight postseason appearances shows that a ballclub can be successful even without a publicly funded - had you going for a minute there, didn't we? What Selig really said: "That stadium cannot produce enough revenue for his team to be competitive and keep the players that they want to keep. That's just a fact of life." That's it, we're calling it: A's in 2004.
March 13, 2004
Bengals: Now you've made us angry
Uh-oh, Hamilton County is in trouble now: Its antitrust suit over the Cincinnati Bengals' sweetheart stadium lease has riled team owner Mike Brown's son-in-law, Troy Blackburn. Blackburn, who is the Bengals' director of business development - gosh, where have we seen that before (and even before that)? - came out swinging, telling the Cincinnati Post that, and we quote, the lawsuit could "open some doors I'm not sure the county wants opened," "is not a free bullet that will be forgotten about just because it misses," "is not a no-harm-done situation," and could lead to "some potential situations they probably haven't even thought about." What sort of situations, Troy? "It's impossible to say what might happen. But if this goes ahead, there will be consequences.''
Blackburn then told CNN/SI that the Bengals were planning to file a countersuit. So, okay, maybe not that impossible to say. Blackburn's other unspoken threat is that if the county succeeds in invalidating the Bengals' lease, the team could be free to move out of town, though this was waved off as a concern by county commissioner Todd Portune: "Nobody's going to buy that 'we're going to move to another town' stuff again."
March 11, 2004
Selig on Expos: Mumble mumble
The latest on the Montreal Expos fiasco from MLB grand poobah Bud Selig, as told to SI's Tom Verducci:
- "We [have said we'd like to find a buyer]Ýby the All-Star Game this year and I really hope [that's the case]. ... The relocation committee is hard at work and we all agree by the middle of the season we ought to have a buyer and a site." This appears to be backing off from second-in-command Bob DuPuy's earlier promise that a new home for the Expos would be decided upon this year.
- On the possibility of moving the Expos to Las Vegas: "Look, life is not what it was two or three decades ago. Gambling is legal, there are casinos within miles of most every ballpark in the major leagues." Anyone feel like counting?
- On the possibility of moving the Expos to D.C. or Northern Virginia, which Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos has griped would squeeze his team's market: "Look, I've always been sensitive about moving teams without proper thought. For instance, [moving the A's to Oakland created] a two-team market in which both teams have struggled for decades. That was just poor planning." As Doug Pappas notes: "In the 36 seasons since the Bay Area became a two-team market, the two clubs have made the playoffs a combined 21 times, as often as the two New York clubs (giving the Yankees credit for strike-shortened 1994). This compares to eight playoff appearances for the two Chicago teams and 14 for the two Los Angeles clubs over the same period."
- On whether the whole Expos saga had become an embarrassment to baseball: "I don't know if 'embarrassment' is the right word."
More St. Paul stadium-tax opponents
Eighty St. Paul bar and restaurant owners have signed a petition opposing Mayor Randy Kelly's 3% citywide tax on bar and restaurant sales to raise money for a $520 million Minnesota Twins stadium. The petition also thanks the four members of the city council who voted for a since-vetoed resolution opposing the stadium tax. Meanwhile, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he was delaying for another week his official submission of Twins and Vikings stadium plans to the state legislature.
County joins Bengals stadium suit
The anti-trust suit against the Cincinnati Bengals has another new plaintiff: Hamilton County, which announced yesterday that it was signing on to the suit. Proving that the NFL abused its monopoly power to extort a sweetheart lease on the $458 million Paul Brown Stadium will be "a steep mountain to climb," says sports economist Roger Noll, since "making a bad decision is not the same thing as being defrauded." The potential payoff could be worth it, though: the suit seeks $200 million in damages, which would be tripled if the Bengals are found to have breached anti-trust laws.
March 10, 2004
Miami Arena money already committed to stadium
Remember that sale of the Miami Arena approved last week that was supposed to raise $60 million in new money for a Florida Marlins stadium? Turns out most of that money was already included in the county's pledge of $73 million in stadium funding last year. Also turns out nobody told the county commissioners or the sports authority board about this when they were voting to approve the deal. "We've been deceived," grumbled sports authority board member Maritza GutiÈrrez. "This is something that was brokered behind closed doors months and months ago. But I guess that's business as usual in the city of Miami."
Kelly vetoes St. Paul no-stadium measure
As expected, St. Paul mayor Randy Kelly has vetoed the resolution passed by the city council last week opposing the use of city tax money for a new Minnesota Twins stadium. Given that the council would ultimately have to approve any stadium subsidy, Kelly's move looks like empty posturing, though the mayor insists otherwise: "If the Legislature authorizes a baseball stadium, I would be shocked if a majority of our City Council would be so obstructionist as to deny the public the right to vote on bringing the Twins to St. Paul." Note that this is the same Mayor Kelly who originally asked the legislature not to hold a public vote on his tax hike plan, until he realized that would never fly in the state house.
March 08, 2004
Stop me if you've heard this one
Ah, the signs of spring: the crack of the bat, the chirp of the robin, the whinging of Steve Schott. The Oakland A's owner declared during his annual "State of the A's" address that "we need a new stadium to continue being competitive," adding helpfully, "We feel we can't compete if we don't have one." (Since Bud Selig made an identical claim about the A's last spring training, whereupon the team went out and won 96 games and a division title, Oakland fans should probably feel good about the coming season.) Asked about the San Francisco Giants' claim to territorial rights to Santa Clara County, where the A's would like to build a new park, Schott replied: "It's like my 4-year-old granddaughter says sometimes, 'crybaby, crybaby.'" Schott also threatened that if he doesn't get a new stadium, he might sell the team to someone else. What, and give up show biz?
Investing in vote futures
Minnesota's stadium proposals may face an uphill battle, but they'll have plenty of hands pushing against gravity: the Twins have hired seven lobbyists to plead their case for a new home, with the Vikings right behind with five. All told, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the Twins have spent more than $3 million on stadium lobbyists since 1996. Was it worth it? "Maybe," says team president Jerry Bell. "It will be if we get a new stadium, and if you spread it over the 30 years of the new ballpark." With $300 million in public money at stake, the Twins could probably get away with hiring half the state as lobbyists and still turn a profit.
March 06, 2004
Steelers face stadium antitrust suit
Now this is getting interesting: Following on the heels of the Cincinnati lawsuit over the Bengals unfairly coercing taxpayers into paying for Paul Brown Stadium, now a Pittsburgh Steelers fan has filed a similar legal challenge. Robert Warnock charges that the team used the NFL's monopoly power to coerce taxpayers into funding Heinz Field, and seeks $200 million in damages from the league - which would be automatically tripled if a violation of antitrust law is proven.
The team's attorney replied that the stadium is not just a benefit to the team: "It is a magnet around which economic development and jobs have grown, so it's a tremendous asset for our community." If that's their defense, Warnock might as well start pricing a new set of wheels.
March 05, 2004
St. Paul council nixes stadium plan
Turns out the people of St. Paul may not have to vote on a Minnesota Twins stadium tax after all: the St. Paul city council last night voted 4-2 to reject plans for a 3% bar and restaurant tax hike to help fund a new baseball stadium. Though Mayor Randy Kelly could still veto the measure, it doesn't sound likely that he'll get his stadium dreams past the current council. "There's a limit as to how much we can tax people," said councilmember Dave Thune, who introduced the no-stadium measure. "If we're going to maintain basic services, we're going to have to increase property taxes. The kid in me would like to see the Twins here. The adult in me says we can't afford it." The erstwhile competition to host the Twins could now be down to a one-city race: Minneapolis, which has its own financing problems.
March 03, 2004
Miami Arena won't reach legal drinking age
The Miami Arena, the current record-holder for shortest shelf life for a major sports facility (built in 1988 for the Heat and later the Panthers, it had been abandoned by both teams for still newer buildings by 1999), could be facing the wrecking ball under a deal tentatively approved by the Miami Sports and Exhibition Authority. Under the deal, the now-empty arena would be sold to a parking-lot developer for $25 million, which would be used to help pay off the $34 million in construction debt still owed on the building. Then, in a scheme only Sali Berisha could love, hotel tax money currently being used to pay for upkeep of the arena could be used to help pay for a new home for the Florida Marlins, either at the arena site, or near the Orange Bowl - or maybe somewhere else entirely.
Norfolk mayor: We're on the nonexistent short list
Give Norfolk mayor Paul Fraim credit for - what's the Virginia equivalent of chutzpah? Despite MLB's insistence that there's no short list of cities in the endless chase for the Montreal Expos, Fraim says the competition has narrowed to Norfolk, Monterrey, and an unnamed third contender. (In related news, Democratic candidate Dennis Kucinich says that the presidential race is now a choice between himself and 37-Vote Louie.)
If Fraim seems like he's in a hurry, it's because the Virginia law authorizing a stadium tax increment financing district - it always comes back to TIFs, doesn't it? - expires at the end of 2004, and there's pretty much no chance of it being renewed. MLB has been putting off a decision on the Expos' fate for years now in hopes of finding a city willing to cough up more stadium dough, but at this rate its list could be getting shorter whether Bud Selig likes it or not...
March 02, 2004
Jets to get STIF as well?
Sales tax increment financing is all the rage, it seems - first the New Jersey Nets' Brooklyn arena plan and the Minnesota Twins' Minneapolis stadium plan, and now the New York Jets' Manhattan stadium plan would divert sales and income taxes collected at games to pay off construction debt. As New York state development czar Charles Gargano told Bond Buyer: "There'll be personal income taxes and sales taxes and so many other taxes that both the city and the state benefit by. Many people will be employed here, especially football players who have very large salaries." We'd repeat what we said about the pitfalls of STIFs last Friday, but, well, we already said it last Friday.
March 01, 2004
Portland arena files Chapter 11
This is a bit complicated, so bear with us: The Oregon Arena Corp., which owns the Portland Trail Blazers' Rose Garden but not the Blazers themselves, which are owned by Oregon Arena owner (and world's fifth richest man) Paul Allen but under a different corporate entity - sorry, where were we again? Oh, right: The Oregon Arena Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with the intention of getting out of paying bondholders on the remaining $133 million in private debt the team - sorry, we mean Allen - or rather, Oregon Arena - took out to build the Rose Garden. The creditors, primarily securities firm Prudential and pension fund managers TIAA/CREF, had been due their next $3.2 million interest payment today.
While the Rose Garden was primarily built with private money, its bankruptcy filing does point up just how bad an investment new sports facilities can be: 11 years after borrowing $155 million (just 60% of the total arena cost) at 9% interest, Oregon Arena now says that the deal was based on "overly optimistic assumptions about revenue and attendance," and that the arena has lost money in seven of the nine years it's been open. If the arena's bankruptcy reorganization is successful, those wrong assumptions won't Paul Allen another dime - but if your pension plan is held by TIAA/CREF, you might want to check your account balance.
