Brewers were never going to move, says team owner while accepting $500m to keep them from moving

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed the Milwaukee Brewers stadium renovation subsidy bill yesterday as expected, providing $500 million in public funds to go along with $110 million from team owner Mark Attanasio if you’re counting future dollars the same as present-day ones and ignore who gets naming-rights revenue on the state-owned stadium, or just under $500 million in public funds compared to more like $0 from Attanasio if you do a more complete analysis. And Attanasio actually brought up (or was asked about) whether he really would have moved the team without public money like unnamed sources had hinted to a local newspaper in advance of the legislative vote, and gave an answer, sort of:

Attanasio said during the signing that the Brewers have received inquiries from other cities about relocating but moving was never an option. He said he understands how painful it was for the community when the Milwaukee Braves left for Atlanta in 1966. He did not name the cities inquiring about hosting the Brewers…

“We never considered going anywhere else,” Attanasio said. “We always wanted to be here.”

Joanna Cagan and I previously came up with the term “non-threat threat” for the way team owners drop hints about relocation without ever actually outright saying they’ll move, but maybe it’s time for a new phrase for this second half of the maneuver, in which owners simultaneously deny they ever would have dreamed of leaving town while also thanking taxpayer largesse for keeping them in town. Jerry Reinsdorf did it, and Mario Lemeiux did it, and Zygi Wilf did it; at this point, Attanasio is clearly reading from a standard playbook, albeit one that requires reporters not to say “Wait what?”

Anyway, Attanasio has his taxpayer boodle now, so if this is going to be any kind of teachable moment, it’ll have to be for future move threat rumors. Like, say, the one where Dallas city councilmembers are saying the city should consider building the Mavericks a new arena to replace their 22-year-old one because “We need to keep the ‘Dallas’ in the Dallas Mavericks,” even after team owner Mark Cuban — who is selling majority control of the team but will retain operational control — said, “I will say on the record the team is not moving anywhere.” Maybe he’s lying, sure, but the minute you start assuming move threats without the local team owner even having to hint about them, that’s when you get into negotiating against yourself, and that way $500 million checks lie.

 

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Friday roundup: MSG throws campaign cash around, Commanders on pace for new stadium (someday), OKC to build two arenas?

It was a slow week for stadium and arena news — even money-grubbing plutocrats and their elected-official pals like to go on vacation in the summer — but there are still a few more items of note that didn’t make it to posts of their own:

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Mark Cuban wants to replace Mavericks’ 20-year-old arena “just because”

The Dallas Mavericks‘ arena turned 20 years old this summer, which means the Mavericks only have 10 years left on their lease, which means of course it’s time for team owner Mark Cuban to start talking about building a new one. He didn’t provide a lot of details in talking to the Dallas Morning News, but he did rattle at least a saber or two:

Cuban in the next breath told The Dallas Morning News without being asked: “I’d say the likelihood of us staying at the AAC right now is less than 50%.” …

“It’s going to take five or six years to build anything,” Cuban said. “So we’re not that far off from making a decision.” …

Why?

“Just because,” he said. “I think it’s time. You know, the AAC is beautiful and it’ll last forever. There’s just more things I want to do.”

Cuban then said that parking inconveniences near the arena are one issue — because it’s totally easier to build a whole new arena than to build a parking garage, or even a shuttle from the site of the team’s practice facility a mile away, which Cuban is thought to be eyeing for a new arena — and added that “it’s not optimized for fan experience coming into the arena any longer, like it was in the beginning.”

This is not the first time Cuban has talked about building a new arena: Five years ago, he floated (no pun intended) the idea of building an arena on the 20th floor of a skyscraper, which was quickly categorized under “things that Mark Cuban just says because he’s Mark Cuban” and then forgotten. He also said two years ago that it would take “five, six years” for him to decide whether to renew his lease in 2030, so either he’s ahead of schedule or he considers another 3-4 years to be “not that far off.”

The big question, as always, is who would pay for the rich guy’s new toy. The current arena got $125 million in public money, toward what after cost overruns ended up being a then-record $420 million price tag; going halfsies seems to be a common practice for sports stadiums in the Dallas area, though as we’ve seen before, there are lots of ways for taxpayers to be hit with additional tabs that aren’t construction costs per se. Cuban is worth $4.5 billion at last check, so he could certainly afford to fund a new building entirely out of his own pocket, but so could these guys, and they’re instead looking for one of the biggest sports subsidies ever — it’s not about what you can spend, it’s about what you can convince other people to spend.

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Friday roundup: Ex-D.C. mayor says his $534m Nats stadium expense was worth it, Clippers arena stymied by car trouble, MLS franchise fees to go even higher

Shouldn’t posting items more regularly during the week leave less news to round up on Fridays? I’m pretty sure that’s how it’s supposed to work, but here I am on Friday with even more browser tabs open than usual, and I’m sure someone is still going to complain that I left out, say, the latest on arena site discussions in Saskatoon. I guess lemme type really fast and see how many I can get through before my fingers fall off:

 

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Mark Cuban wants to build NBA arena 20 stories in air, proves he’s still Mark Cuban

Oh hey, did I forget to post a link to the story where Dallas Mavericks owner/all-around crazy guy Mark Cuban said he wants to build an arena suspended 20 stories in the air? Here’s a link to that. And here’s what Cuban said about his crazy idea:

“My dream — and this is like the long, long, long, long shot — is to build an arena 20 stories up in the air, where every seat has a view of downtown, whether it’s north, south, east or west,” Cuban said.

Asked how he came up with this vision, Cuban laughed and said, “That’s what I do.”..

“Imagine being 20 stories up, taking a page from ballparks like Pittsburgh and other places that have amazing views,” Cuban said. “That’s ‘a vision.’ It’s not necessarily a slam dunk. But that’s part of the thinking process.”

Also part of the thinking process is usually thinking, and what Cuban’s idea makes me think of is the way that concert and event promoters hate arenas where the floor isn’t at ground level (Madison Square Garden being the classic example), because then you have to move amplifiers and stage props and circus elephants by elevator. Also, that the view one generally wants in a basketball arena is of basketball, not what’s outside the arena. Also that what gives Pittsburgh’s baseball stadium such great views isn’t its height (it’s one of the shortest MLB stadiums) but the fact that it’s across the river from downtown Pittsburgh. Maybe Cuban should move the Mavericks to a more scenic city like Pittsburgh? Or better, move downtown Pittsburgh to Dallas?

Cuban added that he’d need to start building a new arena in about the year 2023, because his lease at American Airlines Arena expires in 2030, and obviously no one has ever heard of such a thing as renewing a lease.

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