First things first: The Nevada legislature never got around to holding its second day of Oakland A’s stadium hearings yesterday, and while there was no announcement of why, the obvious conclusion is that it’s because they don’t have the votes to pass anything. The current plan is to reconvene on Monday, with the time until then used to see if amending the bill will turn any legislators’ heads: Rumored changes include removing the A’s exemption from the state’s live entertainment tax (which could save the state about $100 million in tax breaks, though that’s a subsidy I didn’t include in my latest estimate, so it would still leave the total public cost at around $500 million) and improving the team’s community benefits agreement to include things like donations to a local food bank (which wouldn’t amount to much at all), so my question stands.
At least A’s owner John Fisher has one friend in the Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial board, which helpfully asserted yesterday that though the economic benefits of a stadium are questionable, this is about “making the region a more attractive place to work, live, invest in and visit,” which Las Vegas desperately needs because nobody visits there, it’s too crowded, or something? Maybe Fisher could actually use some more persuasive friends, though presumably that’s who he has in behind-closed-doors meetings with state legislators between now and Monday.
But that’s not all that’s happening, not by a long shot:
- NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith “has an interest in bringing the NHL to Salt Lake City,” and “obviously, what happened in Arizona created this talk of potential need for relocation,” jeez, does the guy need to spell his move threats out to you? (Whoever “you” is, since nobody in the Phoenix area seems that worked up about whether the Arizona Coyotes stay or go, and for good reason, but league execs gotta do their thing.)
- You know how much I hate repeating New York Post “reporting,” let alone New York Post “exclusives,” so take this one with the usual grain of salt: The Post says, citing “City Hall and other sources,” that New York Mayor Eric Adams, Mets owner Steve Cohen, and Queens city councilmember Francisco Moya engaged in a “spirited” phone call about tying Cohen’s casino bid to progress on an NYC F.C. soccer stadium, possibly by rolling the two into one land-use bid in exchange for Cohen letting the soccer team use his stadium lots for parking during matches. To make things even spicier, “Sources said Moya claimed after the meeting that Cohen threatened to back ex-con Hiram Monserrate, a former councilman and state senator who previously represented the area, in a Democratic primary if he didn’t get on board with his redevelopment plan.” Moya’s been pretty close-mouthed on the whole casino thing, letting state senator Jessica Ramos take the lead on stalling approval for it so far; Cohen denies this, and Monserrate says he opposes the casino plans, so who the hell knows, it’s a Post story, after all.
- Philadelphia Chinatown residents and supporters will march on City Hall tomorrow to protest plans for a 76ers arena on the neighborhood’s doorstep, arguing that it will create economic and traffic havoc that would destroy the community just as the Washington Wizards‘ arena did to D.C.’s Chinatown. A public meeting on Wednesday revealed some very watercolory renderings of the arena but not much about the public response given that the only reporting on it I can find is from a real estate company, oh journalism.
- Having more professional sports teams may not bring measurable economic benefits, but it does bring more influenza deaths. It’s science!