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January 28, 2007
Wizards owner: We'll take some of that cash, please
Make that three D.C. sports teams looking for public money: Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin, who has been widely praised for building the $138 million Verizon Center with private money (though the city kicked in $70 million in land and infrastructure costs), has asked the city for $50 million to renovate the arena's luxury suites so he can charge more for them.
Pollin's reasoning, in the words of the Washington Post: "the city should give the arena a financial boost as a reward for its role as a catalyst of the downtown renaissance." The Post didn't say, but presumably the reason Pollin chose this moment to demand his bounty was seeing the $611 million in city money being spent on a new Washington Nationals stadium, plus the recent talks with the Redskins and D.C. United about providing public aid for their new homes.
To their credit, D.C. officials haven't yet responded to Pollin's request, and if they do accede to it, they're reportedly considering paying for it by hiking the ticket tax for events at the arena, something that would mostly come out of Pollin's pocket anyway (since he'd have to price tickets lower to have them end up with the same face value). We'll have to wait and see whether Pollin considers that an acceptable "reward."