And here we arrive again at the end of another programming week. It’s a bit demoralizing that this is the slow season for stadium and arena news — no legislatures in session, lots of people on vacation — and yet the news watch is as busy as ever. I’m a little afraid of what’ll happen in September, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Meanwhile, here’s what else has been happening:
- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, while visiting Baltimore Ravens training camp and wearing a Ravens jersey, because that’s how elected officials roll, announced that he and Baltimore Orioles owner John Angelos have resumed talks over a lease extension. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal says the remaining sticking point is that Angelos wants, in addition to $600 million in state renovation money that was already approved, development rights to land around Camden Yards, even though there isn’t really much undeveloped land available. (Which we’ve known since February, really, but it’s nice to get confirmation from The New York Times’ proposed scab sports section.) And Angelos might not get away with it, too, if only because he keeps stepping on rakes.
- New Tennessee Titans stadium renderings! And it’s a video! Set to a pop cover of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” for some reason! With children playing jumprope and computer animated people doing rock guitar moves in the concession concourses? USA Today’s Titans Wire, which is no doubt an unbiased source, calls it “just well done overall”; it certainly burns, burns, burns, so the soundtrack was well chosen in that way.
- U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer tells the Daily News of Batavia that he has told Buffalo Bills co-owner Terry Pegula to call him whenever he needs something, and “every so often they do, about one thing or another,” and also that he has confidence the new Bills stadium will be built despite cost overruns and “it’s got to be built soon because, you know, the existing stadium is old,” and also he was “furious and frantic” when he thought the Bills might move and “did everything I could to keep the Bills in Buffalo.” The Daily News of Batavia does not appear to have asked Schumer if he thought $1 billion in public money was a fair price to pay for this, and Schumer ran unopposed in last year’s Democratic primary, so democracy is just working well all around.
- The developers behind Pawtucket’s stalled Rhode Island F.C. soccer stadium say they have finally found money to finish the project, and will restart construction “in the near future.” The city and state still need to sign off on resuming the plan.
- Don’t like the Philadelphia 76ers owners’ plans to build an arena on a failing mall next to the city’s Chinatown? What if they added a 20-story apartment building with 20% of the units “affordable” (no specifics provided on to which income group), or at least pictures of one?
- Bronx cricket leagues officially hate the proposed temporary T20 World Cup stadium that would displace their public cricket fields for next year. “You know, you don’t want to come into a community and just throw things down their throat,” said Curtis Clarke, president of the New York Masters Cricket Association, who clearly doesn’t have a good handle on what sports leagues very much do want.
- No, it won’t.
- I have not yet had time to read Brad Humphreys and Jane Ruseski’s paper that found that flu deaths rise when a city gets a new major-league sports team, but the fact that the NHL saw the largest effect — a 24.6% increase — checks out when you consider that the league plays in indoor arenas during flu season in disproportionately cold parts of North America. Good thing we all learned from the Atalanta superspreader event and put in place protocols to reduce viral spread at sporting events by … no? Well, maybe next pandemic.
“The stadium is old and should be replaced”. I think the same thing can be said about Chuck Schumer.
We have a winner!
Apparently we have term limits for stadia and arenas but not for politicians.
We have another winner!
Well, no-one is going to be able to top Jeremy’s first comment…
But with respect to the Titan’s prospective new Johnny Cash themed facility, wouldn’t “One Piece at a Time” be better (or at least more suitable) slogan?
Also, I am assuming Mr. Humphreys disagrees with the notion that the Swift concerts will bring $320m to the LA economy because it will actually bring $320Bn/Tr/Qdr???
Sorry to be negative Neil but that is a horrible version of a Johnny Cash song. Does CGI/AI have feelings?
AI is too busy doing Hank Williams covering NWA:
https://wfmu.org/archiveplayer/?show=130529&archive=239303&starttime=2:27:45
The horror…. the horror….
I’ve seen Angelos in action. The man is a failson with zero charisma who could care less about anything except what he wants.
He has been told there’s a train station beneath part of the land he wants to build on and it is a fools errand. Nope! He knows better! He is stubborn AF. This whole lease delay tactic is right out of his father’s playbook. If Maryland politicians could just wipe the stars from their eyes they’d realize he needs them more than they need him. Where’s he going to move to? Montreal? And pay a billion dollar relocation fee? I’m so tired of SMH at these people. I’m going to go lie down…..
Based on the A’s situation, I think MLB isn’t going to demand relocation fees any more.
Owners want to help other owners extort money out of cities.
Has MLB ever demanded relocation fees? I can’t think of an example.
They haven’t. No one thought to do so when the Senators/Rangers moved or for any previous franchise moves, and the Expos/Nationals were owned by the league at the time of their sale/relocation.
I believe it’s a recent development started by other leagues.
Manfred did say there was one and that it would be waived. So maybe it’s MLBs’ first one?
I think the relocation fee is only there to stop a renegade owner from doing something stupid. These moves/threats of moves are carefully coordinated by the league to make sure current owners benefit. No expansion into Montreal or Vegas because the rays and a’s need publicly funded stadiums.
Relocation fees are there for leagues to demand their pound of flesh when letting a team owner move into what would otherwise be a lucrative expansion market. No matter what league officials say, they are always arbitrary, so “waiving” them is meaningless — doubly so in MLB, which has never used them.
“Infrastructure Upgrades needed to handle Taylor Swift traffic” will be the next stadium funding rally cry
https://www.streetlightdata.com/taylor-swift-traffic-trends-eras-tour/
Taylor should get a cut…..
The O’s have earned a bad public image with the way they took their TV broadcaster Kevin Brown off the air. Now they’re attempting a land grab and corporate welfare grab during a cost of living crisis. Try selling that to those who live in western Maryland or the Eastern Shore.
In fairness to Schumer, he’s a senator who has no bearing on NY state funding so he of all people can play the fan without taking a vote.