January 06, 2005
Do you prefer gambling or gambling?
Not crazy about raising $687 million for an Indianapolis Colts stadium by setting up a downtown slot-machine casino? Okay, then how about slot machines at race tracks instead? That's the latest counterproposal from Indiana state rep Michael Murphy, who defended it as an "economic development bill that happens to include gambling." (With a straight face, presumably, though the Indianapolis Star didn't specifically say.)
It's still uncertain how any of these stadium plans will fly with legislators from outside Indianapolis, especially with that $830 million budget deficit staring them in the face. Still, as the Star notes, "For now, the question seems to be: How should a new Colts stadium be funded, not whether should one be built." If so, Mayor Bart Peterson's stadium push has accomplished at least the first step in the sports subsidy playbook.
