There’s a new Milwaukee Brewers stadium renovation subsidy bill in the works in the Wisconsin state legislature, one that could be released early this week, according to “multiple sources within state and local government,” reports CBS 58. And unlike the previous proposals that would have included about $360 million in state money plus about $70 million from Milwaukee County, this one would include:
- $400 million from the state, though it’s unclear whether that’s a lump sum right now like Gov. Tony Evers proposed or tax kickbacks over time like assembly speaker Robin Vos countered with.
- $5 million per year for 27 years from Milwaukee County, which amounts to about $73 million in present value.
- $2.5 million per year for 27 years from the city of Milwaukee, which amounts to about $47 million in present value.
- Between $100 and $125 million from Brewers owner Mark Attanasio.
Assuming that the state and Brewers payments would be in 2023 dollars — CBS 58 didn’t deign to spell that out — this would amount to a total of at least $620 million in spending to upgrade a 22-year-old stadium, with $520 million of it coming from taxpayers. In exchange, the report implies that the Brewers would extend their lease from 2030 to 2050, which would mean $26 million in public outlay per year of additional lease, which would be one of the most expensive lease extensions in history, though it’s a record that’s increasingly made to be broken.
In related news, a new poll shows that Milwaukee County residents hate the idea of giving tax money to Attanasio, with 56% opposed to using any public dollars for stadium renovations. Of those polled, 29% said they would be more supportive if it were the only way to keep the Brewers from leaving Milwaukee, as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has vaguely threatened, and 59% said they would be more supportive if state money were used in addition to county money, though in neither case did they indicate whether “more supportive” means they’d be okay with it or just hate it marginally less.
Pushing for the bill is the Home Crew Coalition, a group of local business leaders and Republican officials that has been running radio ads in support of the deal, even before the specifics of the deal have been finalized. Coalition chair Omar Shaikh, whose website describes him as a “restaurateur + developer,” told CBS 58 for its on-air segment: “What if we lose them, right? We’re trying to be a tier one city, we can’t lose a Major League Baseball team. And then what happens to the facility if the Brewers go? Not saying that that’s going to happen, but I think they’re a fabric of our community.”
Not saying that’s going to happen, that’s not a threat, oh, no, no, no, we’re your buddies, we want to look after you. Just 700,000 bob a week, and we’ll make sure nobody will set fire to any baseball players. We’ll have to wait for the actual bill to be introduced before we see whether any Wisconsin legislators object that this entire premise is silly and very badly written.
The state of the art system to water the field with Brawndo is really expensive. Brawndo’s got what plants crave! It’s got electrolytes!
If the Brewers change their name to the Fox Cons, and their logo/mascot is a fox with panty hose over his head, I support all the money going to them.
This seems like a reasonable condition of the funding bill. I approve.
Of course I don’t live in Milwaukee…. but then, neither do almost all of the people who will directly benefit from this public largesse/extortion.
I always love the idea that you have to have a team in (Insert League Here) to be a “Tier 1 City” (whatever that means).
I like Milwaukee. I think it’s underrated. I have always had a good time there. But the idea that the hundreds of metro areas in the US without a billionaire’s plaything are somehow not worth living in is beyond stupid.