Mariners owners seek $117m in public cash for Single-A stadium in Modesto, inflation really is out of control

It’s finally a bit of a slow news week, and I didn’t post anything yesterday, which usually means I would try to post something today, but all there is is this item about the owners of the Single-A Modesto Nuts looking to build a new stadium for — I’m sorry, how much money?

The proposal is based on Modesto and Stanislaus County providing the bulk of the funding for the stadium, which has a preliminary estimate of $85 million to $122 million. The proposal calls for private investment of $5 million to $10 million, and the city and county issuing bond debt to cover the balance.

That’s right, the Nuts owners — or technically “a group of Modesto business and civic leaders,” but surely they’re doing it on behalf of the Nuts owners, who in this case happen to be the owners of the Seattle Mariners — are looking to get as much as $117 million for a stadium for their lowest-rung minor-league affiliate, which would hold all of 5,000 fans (11,500 for concerts). That’s still slightly short of the reigning minor-league stadium subsidy record of $150 million for the Worcester Red Sox, but at least that’s a Triple-A stadium that holds 9,500 fans, even if it does look like a giant shipping container. Spending $117 million for a Single-A stadium is unheard of, or I guess was unheard of, until now. How is the Modesto business coalition trying to justify this crazy taxpayer expense?

Lynn Dickerson, the former Gallo Center for the Arts CEO and a member of the stadium project team, said it would not only provide the Nuts with a new venue but help with the revitalization of downtown and make Modesto a destination for residents from across the Central Valley and the Bay Area.

Yes, surely San Francisco residents will regularly make the hour and a half drive to watch the Mariners’ youngest minor-leaguers once they can sit in a new 5,000-seat stadium rather than the old 4,000-seat one. What else ya got?

Stadium proponents say it would help make Modesto a more attractive, desirable city and draw high-skilled, high-wage workers and spur the building of offices, housing and stores in downtown.

Okay, that’s about enough of that. There’s reportedly an economic impact study that the stadium proponents have given to the city and county, but the Modesto Bee doesn’t link to it or quote from it, either because they haven’t been allowed to see it or they can’t be bothered to read it, they don’t say which.

Scroll way down in the article, though, and you start to see where the Nuts owners and their friends are getting their chutzpah:

One reason plans were drawn up so quickly is Major League Baseball’s new facilities requirements for minor league teams. Under the new regulations, the Nuts will have to upgrade John Thurman Field, which opened in the mid-1950s, or submit to the MLB a plan for a new stadium by the start of the 2023 season.

The proponents of the new stadium say failure to do so could result in a fine or the revocation of team rights in Modesto and the end of minor league baseball here.

Yep, this is just one more bit of fallout from MLB’s takeover and downsizing of the minor leagues, which has allowed them to hold teams for ransom if local communities don’t cough up money for new stadiums. The difference is that nobody has asked for $117 million for one until now, but as Boyett Petroleum president Dave Boyett, a member of the stadium committee, told the Bee: “People said they’ve talked about a downtown stadium for years. I mean, I’ve talked about wanting to go to Mars, but somebody’s got to start somewhere.” Sure, next minor-league team up for a new stadium may as well ask for a rocket to Mars as part of the deal — after all, you can’t get if you don’t ask.

Share this post:

Friday roundup: The Las Vegas A’s, the $550m minor-league bailout, and other mythological beings

Happy Friday of another week where the Oakland A’s did not move to Las Vegas! There are going to be a lot of these, either an infinite number of them (my guess) or a very large number (if the game of chicken drags on a while but is not a total bluff), so get accustomed to them.

In other news:

  • On top of $71-84 million in construction costs, a new New Mexico United stadium would require buying out “a lot of property” currently owned by private landholders, which would cost … want to give us a guesstimate, KRQE? No? Okay, then. At last word Mayor Tim Keller was going to present his stadium resolution to the city council by today, so maybe we’ll learn more soon.
  • Denver Mayor Michael Hancock wants to use part of a $450 million infrastructure bond to pay for a new $160 million, 10,000-seat arena at the National Western Center, where it would host, you know, stuff? The National Western Center is described on its website as “a future place where heritage of the Old West meets progress of the New West, a space where school children can cultivate food systems while researchers discover food security solutions that will change the world,” so just use your imagination. It’s infrastructure, anyway, what could be wrong with that?
  • Still not sure if the Minor League Baseball Relief Act is going anywhere or not, but its sponsors sure are firing all the publicity guns: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) declared this week that minor-league baseball teams “are on the brink of financial catastrophe,” citing … absolutely nothing, though the CBS News article reporting this (and putting “financial catastrophe” in its headline) quoted Chattanooga Lookouts owner Jason Freier as saying that without federal help it’s “going to take us 8 to 10 years to get our balance sheet in the state it was back in 2019,” citing … absolutely nothing again. Freier, for the record, already got $668,000 in PPP money, but if he can get as much as $10 million more from the new bill, he’d be crazy not to ask for it, right?
  • The Charlotte Convention Center Fund only has about $250 million remaining under its debt cap, which could complicate plans for the city to help build a stadium for Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper, who has hinted he’ll be seeking $500 million-ish in public funds. Or, you know, not, given that the city could just give him $500 million in tax breaks or free land or something. Money is fungible, which is great if you’re trying to extract it from the public treasury, for good or ill.
  • Speaking of Oakland, Mayor Libby Schaaf said she’s “excited that we are going to resume our talks with the A’s,” while an A’s spokesperson said team execs are waiting for direction from MLB on how to proceed, ha ha, as if the MLB offices tell team owners what to do and not the other way around, that’s a good one.
  • Modesto, California, which spent $4.2 million on a <strike>new</strike> rehabbed stadium for its minor-league baseball team the Modesto A’s (now the Modesto Nuts) in 1997, is “having conversations” with the Seattle Mariners about a new stadium, according to City Manager Joe Lopez. No details on how much it would cost or who would pay for it.
  • Here’s a whole New York Post article about Staten Island’s new indy-league baseball team that never mentions how much the city will be spending to upgrade Staten Island’s stadium to make it happen. (Spoiler: $8 million, thanks, The City.)
  • Developers are still interested in building on the Ybor City site in Tampa that Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg had been considering for a stadium, just without a stadium, which makes sense because those things are damned expensive and don’t bring in much in the way of revenue if you can’t get massive public subsidies for them, amirite? Anyway, the developers are thinking of calling the site the Gas Worx, so there’s still something to be outraged about, at least.
  • When watching the Tokyo Olympics, remember that they have the biggest cost overruns in Olympic history. “At least until the next Olympics,” writes Patrick Hruby, and man, is he ever not wrong about that one.
Share this post: