June 19, 2005
Extortion has its privileges
St. Louis Blues owners Bill and Nancy Laurie are engaged in a tax dispute with the city of St. Louis, saying they want the same waiver of a 5% ticket tax that the Cardinals will be getting in their new stadium. The Lauries' response when the city turned them down? Announce they're selling the team, possibly to an owner who would move it out of town. Now Mayor Francis Slay says he'll "pull out all the stops to take a look at how we can keep this team here," while Board of Aldermen president James Shrewsbury indicates he'd be okay with a hockey subsidy, saying, "I'm realistic that we need to be competitive."
Of course, the Lauries didn't come out and say that ticket-tax extortion was the reason they're putting the team on the market. No, they said in a prepared statement that they "can no longer justify remaining active in a business which has lost more than $60 million in the past two years and is certain to continue to lose millions annually in the years ahead." Now that's sure to get buyers to come running. Or, heck, maybe it will.
