Field of Schemes: And that's the ballgame

December 21, 2004

And that's the ballgame

This just in: The D.C. council has voted 7-6 to approve a stadium bill that could cost as much as $581 million, for the soon-to-be Washington Nationals. Reports the Washington Post: "After the vote, members of the audience, many wearing red Nationals caps, broke into a round of 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame.'" Rumors are thus far unconfirmed that MLB COO Bob DuPuy was also on hand, to sing his rendition of "Brother, Can You Spare 5.8 Billion Dimes?"

COMMENTS

Here's something a future article should take up: what if the city agreed to pay for the stadium--but demanded to OWN all or part of the team? Hey, it works for Green Bay--oops, sorry, I forgot. Baseball doesn't want its hands polluted by the hoi polloi. Never mind.
Posted by: tinheart at December 21, 2004 04:57 PM

Arrrrghh!!! Pissoff. I'm boycotting DC and the boreball. It is an utter waste to be spending this huge amount of money on greedy swindling team owners, their pathetic sport, and the steroid pumping arrogant millionaire players. The money should be used for more productive purposes instead.
Posted by: Mike at December 21, 2004 05:05 PM

Watch what'll happen once the stadium is built. B-ball fans with money to burn will come to the games, spend a ton of cash, then hightail it out of the 'hood once the game is over and return to the safety of their homes and townhouses. The neighborhood will be lucky to see a dime of extra income. MLB will reap all the financial gain. Case in point - Yankee stadium, home of the sport's most successful and storied team. Has the Bronx Bombers' success spilled over into the surrounding area and turned it into a thriving neighborhood? I think not. Fans come to the games, then race back to Manhattan, NJ, or wherever else they came from without throwing any money around. Take a look at Madison Square Garden, another crown jewel in the sports world. The area around MSG is one of the ugliest in Manhattan. And we're talking about New York here, a ridiculously wealthy city! The public funds DC is spending would have been better spent developing Clinton-style "economic empowerment zones" that encourage businesses to come into economically depressed areas and build stores. The linchpin of any neighborhood revitalization are stores and small businesses, not pro sports. Stadiums sit around unused half the year. Stores have a much greater net positive impact on the neighborhood because they're open year-round and provide long-term economic stability and job opportunities.
Posted by: Guy B. Jones at December 22, 2004 08:52 AM

I was really hoping that December 31'st would pass and the current deal would die. Street parking rights are being given away in the terms of a lopsided loan, not private investment and nothing done publicly in D.C. comes in on time and on budget. I saw what the MCI center did for the China Town area of D.C. I could hardly believe that the Mall was only a couple blocks away and the city had allowed the section to decay so badly. Walking around 7 years later (I have not seen the growth from last year to this year since the Capitals are not playing) it is still growing, still improving and so full of life, but it was done with a stadium/arena paid for by the owner of the teams that would be playing in it. D.C. saw first hand that it can be done with private financing so this makes MLB's raping of the District so much more frustrating. Abe Pollin, thanks for helping to revitalize China Town, it's just a shame that noone learned from how it was done.
Posted by: Ted Smith at December 22, 2004 11:14 AM