Pressed for time today, so without further ado or preamble, let’s see what else happened this week:
- It was election day in Nashville last night for some reason, and while much of the attention was on the two expelled state legislators who were overwhelmingly re-elected to their old seats, J.C. Bradbury noticed another interesting trend in the wake of the city and state approving $1.2 billion in Tennessee Titans stadium subsidies: “Just to recap what happened in Nashville last night. A chief stadium opponent led the vote tally for Mayor, while two state senators and a council member who championed the stadium were booted from the race. Another stadium outspoken stadium opponent was elected Vice Mayor. … It’s a lesson for elected reps everywhere being told by lobbyists that voters want a stadium. They don’t.”
- Comcast, the owners of the Philadelphia Flyers and their arena, are starting to push back against the Sixers owners’ plans to build a new arena, saying the NBA team’s execs have been making it sound like the arena hasn’t gotten major upgrades and that the Sixers have second choice of available dates after the NHL team, neither of which is true. None of which is huge in terms of public saber-rattling, but in a world where the best way to fight a billionaire’s development plans is sometimes to enlist another billionaire, and where the entire arena plan could turn on the position of one wavering local councilmember, it’s worth keeping an eye on.
- Kansas City, Missouri city manager said something that lots of local officials probably think but none dare say out loud, which is that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to let the Royals and their new stadium be North Kansas City’s problem: “Either way, Kansas City wins in that we maintain a baseball team, we grow the economy, we add jobs and people will still be coming downtown and going to bars and staying at our hotels.” He also said, “We’re not interested in writing a check for $250 million,” then when asked if tax-increment financing kickbacks would be used, replied, “Potentially or tax abatements, of course” — so a lot of this may be more pre-spinning whatever deal ends up getting agreed to than actually holding a hard line, but it’s still spin you don’t often see.
- My old employers the Norwood News have taken a long look at the proposed temporary cricket stadium in the Bronx’s Van Cortlandt Park and arrived at the conclusion that even if the International Cricket Council has promised to pay for it, lots of local officials are upset that they haven’t seen any concrete plans or any details of how long the public cricket pitches that would be displaced for the stadium would be out of commission next year. Also the only rendering is still this weird black and white image, what the hey, guys?
- Another Maryland Stadium Authority board member is steamed that the Baltimore Orioles lease extension talks that would allow the state to give the team $600 million are taking so long, while the previously steamed state treasurer now says he’s satisfied that “it’s gonna take some time” after talking with the governor and the team owner. “I’m not a timeline guy or deadline guy, simply because they get missed,” said treasurer Dereck Davis. “And when deadlines get missed, they cause problems.” Or, you know, not.
- The former owner of an arena in Park City, Kansas, says he had to sell it because property taxes are too high, after not paying property taxes at all for ten years, and also getting about $200,000 a year in operating subsidies while now paying less than $300,000 in taxes. The new owner, meanwhile, will get another ten-year property tax exemption from Park City, which just about exactly cover his $3.5 million purchase price. “That’s not how any of this is supposed to work,” notes Wichita Eagle columnist Dion Lefler, which is spoken like a man who is not a failed restaurateur and political candidate nepo baby who owns a mostly empty sports arena, because if he were he would think this is exactly how things should work.
