Whoops, did I forget to mention that the Cuyahoga County Council voted 9-1 last week to approve $285 million in public spending on Cleveland Guardians stadium renovations — which would turn into $397.5 million in public spending if the team agrees to stay in Cleveland for another 20 years instead of just 15? Well, yes, that happened, and here’s how some of the local government honchos explained it:
County Executive Armond Budish: “The improvements to the field are necessary to keep the team here. We’re fortunate here because the Dolan family wants to keep the team in Cleveland, but we still have to provide a competitive lease. And that’s what we’ve done.”
Gateway Economic Development Corp. chair Ken Silliman: “The fact is that, under the present legal environment, the leverage of cities and counties is minimal, unless you’re willing to lose your team.”
Councilmember Sunny Simon: “[This deal is] vital to a community of sports fanatics.”
We get the picture! Without a promise of nearly $400 million in public money, the Guardians owners would surely have hightailed it to … well, we’re not sure where, but there are all kinds of cities that would just love to have major-league baseball that are big enough to … no? Did the Dolan family at least threaten to move the team, scaring local sports fans and elected officials into opening the public checkbook?
Neil Weiss, the team’s vice president and CIO of Technology and Ballpark Operations, recently told cleveland.com that moving the Guardians out of Cleveland is something “nobody wants to do or would ever want to do.” During negotiations, in fact, the Dolans never brought it up, he said.
Ah, yes, the non-threat threat, that’s an oldie but goodie. As is leaving it to local politicians and sportswriters to make the implicit threat for you, though the Dolans didn’t manage to up the ante to the seldom-utilized ghost threat by having someone drop hints about the team leaving under the cloak of anonymity.
The Cleveland City Council still has to vote to approve the Guardians’ renovation subsidy, and according to Cleveland.com “has already warned that it will need further convincing that the cost-benefit ratio tips in favor of residents.” The city council has meetings coming up the next two Mondays at 7 pm, but no published agendas yet, so keep your calendar free and stay tuned.
The Dolans are looking for minority investors and the deal may include the eventual sale of the team. So the lease does prevent any future owners from leaving as well. Yes you’re not going to be able to put this deal on a spreadsheet and get a good ROI out of it but to say that the team never would have left without it I’m not ready to agree with that
The elephant repellent is working already!
Neil, is Cleveland the best city for sucking public funds for major pro sports teams? I’m not sure I can think of a viable contender.
Indianapolis, hands down.