Was it a week and a half for you too? Sure was here! I’m a little afraid that the sports powers that be have decided to address popular anger over the great stadium swindle by dumping so many new subsidy deals on us at once that outrage fatigue kicks in, and I’m even more afraid that it’s working. Are your eyes starting to glaze over like mine at all the billion-dollar-plus figures? Are you ready to stop demanding that your elected officials stop catering to billionaires, and instead just watch some TV, as long as you can afford TV? Some Soma would sound pretty good about now, wouldn’t it?
I’m just joshing you, I know that the only people left reading this site have deep wells of outrage. In which case, the bullet points that follow will be like a long, cool drink of water to slake your thirst for laughing to keep from crying:
- Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said Wednesday that the White Sox‘ proposed South Loop stadium project is “the way new stadiums should and could look,” despite it not actually being a proposal yet, having only designs that were leaked anonymously to Xitter and then taken down, and having a funding plan that can best be described as “Wait, I thought you had the money.” Johnson added, “I just hope that this is … yet another display of my leadership,” and if by “display” he means “telling example,” then I think we can all agree that yep, sure is.
- Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith has officially asked the NHL for an expansion franchise, with the 33-year-old Delta Center (renovated in 2016 with the help of public tax kickbacks) serving as an “interim solution” but asserting that “Utah will need a new arena designed for professional and Olympic hockey.” No price tag yet on that, but when this came up last month there was talk of competing offers from Salt Lake City and its southern suburbs, so expect the public ask to be a bundle.
- Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan says about Jaguars stadium renovations and surrounding development, “You have to at least know who you have and what you’re talking about in terms of, you know, who’s going to pay for what and what exactly that’s going to look like,” and also what it’s going to look like is around a billion dollars in city money. That’s the same thing she said three months ago, and Jaguars execs said four months before that, at least they’re being consistent in their handwavy estimates.
- Newly released video shows that Philadelphia city councilmember Mark Squilla, who previously flip-flopped from opposing a 76ers Chinatown arena deal to saying maybe it’s okay if they pile up enough consulting studies saying it is, said in December that he’ll oppose any plan that provides team owner Josh Harris with public money, though there’s no word whether he indicated if exploiting an existing tax exemption on the property counts as public money. (Also, sorry about the link to the video with the horrible ad at the start, this is all I’ve got to link to, I already had to scramble yesterday not to violate the Forbes link boycott, these are tough times for news aggregation.)
- Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis has written an open letter to fans saying, among other things, “I find the notion that sports arenas and stadiums do not provide economic benefit to be simply illogical.” Leonsis has, let’s see, a B.A. in American Studies, can’t argue with expertise like that!
- With new Oakland A’s Las Vegas stadium renderings still a long ways off, what are team officials using in their presentations when they’ve already said the old ones are garbage? The garbage, of course.
- “People are arguing on Facebook about raising sales taxes to pay for a Kansas City Royals stadium” is now a legit news story idea, this near-future dystopia is just the best.
- L.A. city councilmember wants to call a stop to Frank McCourt’s proposed Dodger Stadium gondola project until there’s been a traffic and accessibility study; that’s hardly the dumbest thing about the gondola, but guess you may as well start somewhere.
- What’s worse than handing out hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for a sports stadium that employs relatively few people? How about handing out hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to computer data centers that employ almost no one and require residents to pay higher electric bills to build new fossil-fuel-powered generation plants to power them?
- For those who like to ask, “Do tax breaks for development projects like stadiums really take a toll on public services,” here’s a report on a Good Jobs First study finding that property tax abatements, mostly TIFs, cost St. Louis public schools $1,634 per student per year. And since most of the TIFs are in the city proper, which is almost half African American, the burden falls disproportionately on Black students (who lose $610 a year compared to white students’ $179) and those whose low incomes qualify them for free or reduced lunch (who lose $665 compared to $133 for students from higher-income families). But at least it’s helping poor and Black neighborhoods, with most of the TIFs going to … okay, actually most of the TIF-funded projects are in white and affluent neighborhoods, all is going according to plan.
Both the Vancouver 2010, and Beijing 2022 Olympics used standard NHL size rinks. Salt Lake City might be fluffing the budget a bit by wanting an international size rink as well.
They won’t build an international rink for the NHL. Either they’ll just play the Olympics on an NHL rink or remodel it somehow just for the Olympics.
Are we so sure the developments would happen in St Louis without some sort of grant. The city has been losing population for years it’s not like it’s NYC where space is at a premium
While we can’t be 100% sure without the ability to travel to alternate timelines, there’s a whole lot of evidence that the amount of development taking place would be similar without subsidies:
https://showmeinstitute.org/publication/subsidies/does-tax-increment-financing-pass-the-but-for-test-in-missouri/
The president of the Chicago Federation of Labor has jumped on the stadium bandwagon and offered some hilarious estimates of how many jobs will be created (link might be behind paywall):
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/cfl-president-bob-reiter-throws-support-behind-proposed-sox-stadium
Something I find funny about the “this new stadium will create $x tax revenue”, is that these numbers are already known from the current stadiums. Teams and cities/states already know how much money changes hands. That they don’t disclose these numbers is a good indication of how little money it actually is.
They really don’t, though. They know how much money is being collected in tax revenue at current stadiums, maybe, but they have no clue how much would have been collected at an old stadium instead (or a movie theater, bowling alley, etc.) if the stadium hadn’t been built.
There are ways to calculate this, and economists do it all the time. But cities seldom have economists on staff who they’ll ask to devote time to something that might only end up proving that city officials were stupid.
Neil, this is the first time this century that I have seen the word “joshing” in print. Cool, and your roundup is always the first thing I do to kick off my weekend reading.
No kidding.
Well, that’s just the bee’s knees!
I was having coffee this morning, minding my own business, when I came upon this article in Front Office Sports. I guess everything is a matter of perspective.
https://frontofficesports.com/philadelphia-las-vegas-sports-projects-face-new-questions/
From the Wall Street Journal, Santa Clara says stadia is bad:
Why the 49ers and Their Home City Are in a Decadelong Fight
Santa Clara says the 49ers, who play Sunday for a trip to the Super Bowl, haven’t lived up to their financial promises. The team says it has delivered billions.
Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, in Santa Clara, Calif.
SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The San Francisco 49ers are the toast of the Bay Area, headed into the conference championship game Sunday as favorites to advance to the Super Bowl in front of a home crowd at Levi’s Stadium.
But some leaders in Santa Clara, the small city south of San Francisco where the 49ers have played since 2014, aren’t big fans of the team’s owners. The city’s mayor, Lisa Gillmor, has accused them of a string of broken promises that she says are leaving a hole in the city’s budget.
City officials and the 49ers have been locked in a nearly decadelong battle over rent, taxes, shared profits and the cost of police services that has involved multiple lawsuits, a scathing civil grand-jury report and bitter political campaigns. The team’s independent expenditure committees have spent millions to oust Gillmor and her allies on the city council in this quiet Silicon Valley suburb with a population of about 126,000, and one council member whom they backed is now facing criminal charges for leaking a confidential report to team officials.
Money is at the core of the feud, which some say represents a cautionary tale for smaller cities looking to reel in big-ticket sports franchises. After the stadium opened in 2014, the team requested a rent reduction because the project came in under budget, but an arbitrator ruled in favor of the city. Last year, the 49ers won a $180 million property-tax cut from the county. Throughout, the team has complained about the high cost of paying for police officers to work the games, while Gillmor has blasted the team for lower-than-projected profits from concerts held at the stadium.
Quarterback Brock Purdy in the San Francisco 49ers’ win over the Green Bay Packers last weekend. Photo: Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
“They thought they could just come in and steamroll us,” said Gillmor. “But I’m going to stand up when someone’s taking advantage.”
Team officials say the 49ers have made a positive economic impact on the city.
“We’re focused on what’s most important—continuing to deliver billions of dollars in economic impact for our community and performing on the field on Sunday,” said Ellie Caple, the team’s director of communications.
The 49ers commissioned a report last fall, which showed that the stadium has generated more than $2 billion for the local economy since it opened.
Roger Noll, a professor of economics emeritus at nearby Stanford University, said that Levi’s Stadium has been great for fans but not for taxpayers.
“For a football fan it’s a plus, but if you’re not a football fan then it’s costing you, and that’s what the political turmoil in the city of Santa Clara is about,” Noll said.
When Santa Clara sought to lure the 49ers away from San Francisco in 2010, Gillmor, a real-estate broker whose father was the first elected mayor of the city, volunteered to be a spokesperson for the campaign to pass a measure to build the billion-dollar stadium through a public-private partnership.
Clara Mokri for The Wall Street Journal
Santa Clara, Calif., Mayor Lisa Gillmor at City Hall. Her father, Gary Gillmor, seated in black-and-white photo, was the city’s first elected mayor. Clara Mokri for The Wall Street Journal
Santa Clara, Calif., Mayor Lisa Gillmor at City Hall. Her father, Gary Gillmor, seated in photo at right, was the city’s first elected mayor. Clara Mokri for The Wall Street Journal
Though some public officials around the country were growing wary of such deals because of the costs to taxpayers, Gillmor believed the project would be a huge win for the city.
But the relationship began to sour a year after the stadium opened with a dispute over the fate of popular youth soccer fields next to the stadium. The team tried to acquire the fields to turn them into parking lots after saying they would leave them alone during the campaign. The 49ers ultimately backed off; a team official said, “We’ve moved on.”
But Gillmor saw it as a betrayal. Her concern grew when shared profits from concerts and other non-football events at Levi’s Stadium fell to zero in 2018. Gillmor said the city has missed out on more than $30 million that the team projected would flow into the city’s general fund through the arrangement. Even with huge Beyoncé and Taylor Swift shows last year, the city still didn’t get anything, she said.
A team official said that is because the money is going to cover the high cost of paying police officers who direct traffic and provide security on game day. The 49ers and the city are currently fighting in court over how much of those public-safety costs should be shouldered by the team.
The San Francisco 49ers backed off an attempt to acquire youth soccer fields near the stadium to turn them into parking lots.
At one point, Gillmor threatened to take over management of the stadium from the team. But the 49ers fought back. Its independent expenditure committees spent about $3 million in the normally low-dollar city-council elections in 2020. Three candidates backed by the team won, and they joined two others already on the council to form what has become known locally as the “49er Five” for their support of the team.
Sudhanshu “Suds” Jain, a 62-year-old retired electrical engineer who is one of the five, said the team’s foray into local politics has helped put more minorities on the city council and loosen Gillmor’s grip on the city. Even though he doesn’t like football and will be going sailing rather than watching Sunday’s game, Jain said the team has put the city on the map.
“Everyone knows Santa Clara even though they’re called the San Francisco 49ers,” he said.
He said the stadium will bring the city “immense” monetary benefits that will help fund projects like a new library and swim center after loans and other commitments are paid off about 10 years from now.
Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s concern grew when shared profits from concerts and other non-football events at Levi’s Stadium fell to zero in 2018.
But in 2022, a civil grand jury blasted the “49er Five” for allegedly putting the team ahead of the city in a report titled “Unsportsmanlike Conduct.” The report accused council members of taking “operational tours” of the stadium on game day; frequently meeting with team lobbyists before council meetings, and firing a city manager and city attorney for being critical of the team.
The council members, including Jain, denied allegations of wrongdoing.
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What should other small cities learn from Santa Clara, Calif.’s dispute with the 49ers? Join the conversation below.
One of the 49er Five, Anthony Becker, who was defeated by Gillmor in the 2022 mayor’s race, was indicted last year for leaking the grand-jury report to a 49ers official before it was released, and then allegedly lying about it. Becker, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, has pleaded not guilty.
On a recent afternoon, sentiment toward the team was mixed among older men sitting outside a Peet’s coffee shop. A die-hard Niners fan said he loved the stadium; a close observer of city politics said he was wary of the financial issues, while an 88-year-old Raiders fan said he hated “the 49ers and everything else from San Francisco.”
Even with the continuing battle, Gillmor, 63, said she is still a fan of the team, particularly baby-faced quarterback phenom Brock Purdy whom she called adorable. But she turned down an invitation to the stadium for Sunday’s game, saying she prefers watching from her couch.
Ryan Smith said he wants an NHL team in Utah, but wad very careful in interviews to say he’ll let Gary figure out if that’s an expansion team or an existing team.
The coverage from NHL writers all suggests that he’s willing to talk about buying and moving the Coyotes, if there isn’t more progress in Arizona, and could do so by *next season.*
“I find the notion that sports arenas and stadiums do not provide economic benefit to be simply illogical.”
Ok, could be. Show us a disinterested study that indicates that whatever economic effect a new facility has is more than balanced out by the cost to the public. Maybe there is such a study.
Here in Detroit we were told about all the jobs that Comerica Edifice would bring in. In no article….glorified press releases…that I saw touting that did anyone consider how many more jobs than Tiger Stadium had we’d see and what kind of jobs they would be…mostly, I am guessing, part-time and lower paid positions.
That would also have to consider that at least for some games the team, rather than paying employees, has various groups handle the concession stands and they get a cut of the take. Some years back my Labor Zionist group was approached about doing that and we decided that given our group’s policies and approaches, it would be hypocritical for us to claim we support workers while taking a few jobs away from them.