Lots of state legislative sessions are wrapping up this week, but it’s been oddly quiet around actual stadium news, leaving room for lots of spin doctoring and other questionable takes:
- Turns out today’s conclusion of the Florida legislature’s special budget session won’t be a deadline for a Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal, as everything appears to be getting pushed off to even specialer sessions. Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that though there’s only $50 million in the state budget for relocating Hillsborough College buildings to make way for a stadium district on what’s now its Dale Mabry campus, there could be more state money later sometime: “We can do more on the infrastructure,” said the governor, adding, “I think maybe over time you would do more to spruce up the campus because I think it could be something meaningful. And I’m happy to support it.” (Ed. note: Yes, DeSantis leaves office in January. Yes, presumably he knows this.) Hillsborough County Commission chair Ken Hagan, meanwhile, said his “goal” is to hold county and city votes on a binding deal by a scheduled July 15 board meeting, “or maybe have to call a special meeting right around there,” which gives him around seven weeks to flip one of the four “no” votes on the Tampa city council. Rays owner Patrick Zalupski has remained silent on the current stadium stalemate, but DeSantis stepped in to levy a threat on his behalf, declaring: “Maybe if they don’t want to do it, I know Orlando’s ready, willing and able. I think you have Raleigh-Durham, Nashville, and those are great cities, but I’d hate to see us fumble a team and have it end up in some of those other areas.” Now that’s what friends and/or campaign donation recipients are for!
- Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty and West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero say they want an MLB expansion team once the Athletics leave town for Las Vegas, and West Sacramento is set to provide $1 billion in money for a new stadium from property tax kickbacks, hotel taxes, and “additional sources.” The city could spend $1 billion and it “would not impact the City’s general fund or require a taxpayer vote,” explained a joint press release, because it would “be generated solely by activity in the ballpark district,” citing a figure that over 40 years, a ballpark district “is projected to lead to $1.77 billion in new tax revenue.” Citation extremely needed, but also even $1.77 billion over 40 years wouldn’t be enough to pay for $1 billion in stadium costs up front, why can’t our elected leaders math?
- Portland Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon will “do everything in his power” to move the team if he doesn’t get the full $600 million in public arena renovation money he wants, according to (checks notes) a sports talk radio host who runs public relations and crisis counseling firms. And other NBA owners would allow it, he claims, because “if he does relocate, there’s a relocation fee attached to that.” No, don’t ask why Dundon would readily agree to forgo the $365 million already approved by the state of Oregon and also pay an expansion fee to move someplace that isn’t offering a newer arena even after saying he has no intention of moving the team, PR isn’t about answering your questions.
- Nothing new on the Chicago Bears stadium bill as of this morning, but bettors have Arlington Heights, Illinois a 58-40% favorite over Hammond, Indiana to be the team’s new home, for whatever that’s worth. (Very possibly nothing.)
- The Seattle Seahawks are for sale, which means it’s time to ask if a new owner will want a new stadium, apparently. Answer (courtesy of me as quoted in the Puget Sound Business Journal): A new Seahawks owner would be dumb to pay to build one themselves when they have a perfectly good old one, but “if somebody else is going to buy you a new car, you’re not going to say no.”
- Nashville officials say spending $60 million on hosting the Super Bowl after spending $1.2 billion to build a new Tennessee Titans stadium so it could host the Super Bowl will pay off; economists say LOL, just like always.
- The Oakland Arena, abandoned by the Golden State Warriors, is doing so well hosting music now that it doesn’t have to work around the NBA schedule that it’s drawing bigger concerts than its newer rival in San Francisco. Just in time for private equity to buy it and presumably ruin it.
- Spending $600 million to help move the Cleveland Browns from one part of the state to another was a pretty bold move by Ohio, but saying it was giving the state’s data centers $136 million in tax breaks in 2025 alone and having it turn out to actually be $1.6 billion in tax breaks is even more impressive, way to go, Ohio.
Sacramento seems like almost as bad a choice as Vegas for future MLB expansion given the fact that it’s nowhere near a body of water that isn’t a river and is in drought prone California.
As for the NFL news, it’s genuinely stupid that teams feel the need to replace stadiums that aren’t even fifty years old! People are trying to convince themselves that Philadelphia needs a new, closed roof stadium, for example. Their stadium isn’t even 25 years old!
Sacramento’s only chance is if MLB feels it needs a western team after adding an eastern team. Then you’re looking at Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Vancouver, San Jose or the inland empire (Riverside). None of them are likely to excite the owners too much. They’re all either too small or too close to another team. Those cities are more useful as leverage to extort existing markets.
Vancouver would probably be the most obvious pick given the lack of teams in Canada other than the Blue Jays, the fact that it’s got a built in connection to Asia, and the fact that it’s near a major body of water.
Riverside would easily be the worst choice for every reason possible.
All that name-checking amounts to shitposting. The major leagues barely have enough ballplayers to staff 30 big-league ballclubs.
More importantly, all signs point to a lockout when the union contract expires 6 months from now.
Manfred told Nevada politicians that they ought to subsidize a ballpark for the A’s because Vegas was not going to get an expansion team and this is their only way to get a MLB team.
MLB will send that same message to any other city or state if the A’s (if Vegas falls through) or Rays (if Tampa falls through) go looking around again.
The jock-sniffer’s on WDAE in Tampa and JP Peterson constantly cite “at least 8 cities ready to pay billions for the Rays.”
Peterson is many things. “A person with a grasp of how money works” is certainly not one.
Sacramento is now offering $600 million more then what Nevada gave the A’s. This seems like a possible out if Fisher doesn’t find his angel investor for the $1.2 billionish he needs for the Vegas dome. It also allows him to go to Carson City and ask for more money. Staying in Sacramento also allows him to keep getting local tv money.
The Vegas Stadium is too far along to beleive that its not going to get built: https://www.mlb.com/athletics/las-vegas-ballpark/construction-cam
I see it everyday. Just like I saw the Fountainbleu half finished on the north end of the strip for 15 years.
There’s several weird factors at play here. Right now the REIT, Ballys and Fisher want the stadium there. The problem is Bally’s won’t own the lease on the land because it’s one of their few real assets they can liquidate as their Chicago project gets more and more expensive. So will the new owners on the lease want the stadium? Will the REIT see that this deal has royally mucked up the value of the site (the stadium and its ancillary pieces are taking up way more then 9 of the 35 acres)? The value of the land is that it’s on one of the busiest intersections on earth and it has a full gaming license attached. The stadium doesn’t add anything to that, in fact another gaming company might say the stadium devalues the land and figure out a way to get out of it.
So no, I don’t think the stadium is too far built to not be completed. This is an unserious low rent gaming company working with a silly fail son and the economics of what’s going on doesn’t make a lick of sense.
With that $1 billion in Sacramento, and other stadium subsidies we’ve seen since the second “binding” agreement was made- I fully expect Fisher and the A’s to be in Carson City next year begging for more money.
The group trying to buy Oakland Arena renovated the Forum in Inglewood (where the Lakers used to play) to make it a more music-focused venue instead of just a basketball arena in which concerts are sometimes held. Presumably that’s what they would do in Oakland.