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And with that cheery thought, here’s your weekly dose of ways everything still mostly sucks now:
- The Oregon state senate voted 24-5 to approve $800 million in public bonds toward building a Major League Baseball stadium, just as soon as Portland gets a Major League Baseball team. Senators say the project will pay for itself by using money from player income taxes (it won’t) and that it will be a “forward-thinking, transformative opportunity” and “a showcase of what is beautiful, central, core to our constituents of Portland,” which is giving money to ex-Nike execs so they can have their own private sports team, I guess? Please enjoy your requisite J.C. Bradbury Simpsons meme, it’s well earned.
- What do Washington, D.C. councilmembers think of the news that their mayor is on the brink of agreeing to spend $850 million toward a Commanders stadium at a time when the district budget is just red ink up to its eyeballs? “Is this really going to cost us close to a billion dollars?” asked council chair Phil Mendelson, while economic development committee chair Kenyon McDuffie called it a “once in a lifetime opportunity” before being asked how the city could afford it and replying, “I haven’t seen the details.” It’s okay, all the other kids are doing it!
- Ohio House Speaker Matt Huffman says he does not support the Cincinnati Bengals owners’ request for $350 million in state money toward stadium renovations, and wants to hold out for a deal where taxpayers “can actually make money” like … the Cleveland Browns deal? I’m getting kind of tired of linking to my explanation of the Casino Night Fallacy, but seeing as this seems to be some sort of mass delusion that state legislators are signing up for, maybe it can’t be explained enough.
- The Kansas City Chiefs and Royals owners are still kicking tires on potential stadium sites, yep, that’s excuse enough for a news story, nothing else journalists should be spending their time covering, probably. Local business leaders say it’s important, anyway, and if we didn’t have a free and independent press taking its editorial directives from the local chamber of commerce, where would this country be?
- Modesto, California is trying to build a stadium to get a soccer franchise. Of all the 2025 things that you never expected we would be living through, that’s one of the 2025iest.
Portland feels like a perfect example of a city that should be just fine chugging along as a one-horse sports market. People like to take the historically solid support for the Blazers and project that out into what the fanbase might look like for a second “major” franchise in town. There’s a lot more that goes into a metro area’s ability to support a sports franchise (or multiple franchises) beyond just the numbers on the box score and the live shots from the venue which are sometimes taken from unflattering angles.
The city supports the one team it has pretty well, even during the down years, and it should be content with that.
Portland Timbers?
Portland Thorns?
We counting them? Their league does have the word “major” in its name, so I suppose that’s an argument for doing so.
They’re outdrawing the Athletics, even if you account for typical soccer papering-the-house issues.
MLS is AAA baseball at best. Hardly a “major league”. If anything the success of the Timbers and Thorns just show that Portland sports fans are excited for any event that lets them drink outside during the summer- BRING ON THE MLB!
That’s not a great take. And it’s not “the MLB.”
It’s not far off. MLS teams host far fewer home games, almost exclusively on the weekend, at much lower price points per ticket than an MLB team. The payroll requirements for fielding a competitive MLS vs MLB team aren’t remotely similar. MLS doesn’t rely on local TV revenue the same way as MLB.
MLS and NWSL are fun, don’t get me wrong. But they’re not on the same financial level as MLB.
To me, Portland is the epitome of a market that maybe made sense 30 years ago, but doesn’t now with the insane price tags for an expansion franchise. I just don’t see how spending $2 billion for the 25th-ranked DMA makes the math work. Coupled with baseball’s rapidly dissolving RSN-driven economic model and it seems like either a vanity investment, or a team that will need significant public subsidies to stay competitive.
$2 billion really doesn’t work for any of these markets that are interested in expansion. Theres no RSN money, high payroll to put out a competitive product. Huge upfront fees just to be an uncompetitive team for the next 7-8 years. The marketing costs to build a fanbase are going to exorbitant as well
Exactly. I know with Big League Utah, the ballpark is tied in with a huge proposed real estate deal on the west side of SLC so there’s money to be had on that front. But the Millers sold the Jazz under duress because their commercial real estate and car dealership businesses were in trouble due to COVID, and now they’re going to front the billions necessary to float an MLB expansion with no problem? It doesn’t add up.
The Oregon vote can be easily explained: Politicians love feel-good votes on gestures that will probably never amount to anything. For most of them, it’s their favorite part of being in office. The state senators were probably laughing at the idea of MLB putting a team in Portland even as they cast their votes.
Especially those senators from outside the Willamette Valley – the blue/red divide in this state is strong.
I’ve been waiting for someone to do 2 stadiums. Maybe Portland/Oregon is it. One on red side, one on blue. It could be unifying!
John Canzano of the Bald Face Truth has hunted the Oregon House of Reps will pass this as well.
IIRC he’s formerly from the Oregonian and has done plenty of work exposing Pac-12 malfeasance under Larry Scott. He should absolutely know better than to push out that ridiculous puff piece he published today.
Agreed – he’s on the “Portland needs to be a big league city” bandwagon for MLB.
His editorial hit almost every tired and disproven trope with stadium boosterism: becoming a big league city; “gettin’ stuff done” by passing a vote; it won’t cost taxpayers any money; “how could anyone be against this?”; etc etc. Again, he’s smarter than this.
Portland can support a MLB. Seattle welcomes it! Red part of Oregon is supported by the Willamette Valley $$$
It would seem I spoke too soon a few months ago when I congratulated Modesto for letting MiLB walk instead of dedicating a huge portion of the city parks budget to a team subsidy. I guess get your Modesto Nuts* gear this summer while they’re still around, and start placing bets on what they come up with for a soccer team name? I’m guessing something cringey and Lucas-inspired like the Modesto Graffiti.
*”Going Modesto nuts” may or may not be a time-honored local euphemism for amphetamine abuse
I will always remember Modesto fondly as the place where I was one scorecard number away from winning a free ham and mushroom melt. Game of inches!
I’m still shocked an Ohio politician wasn’t completely in the bag for a pro franchise.
Some group is trying to build a soccer stadium in Buffalo, NY. They could not get $20 million from NYS, so they are now planning to build it on land that had to be abandoned by a college due to its proximity to a chemical manufacturing site. The chemical company made a statement that the new plan was incredibly stupid, but the group is pressing on.
So with the Portland deal, if 3% increases in annual MLB payrolls “only” raises $600 what would 3.6% (last years increase) do?