The Owner Needs a New Building

[LanceyHoward]

This topic comes up repeatedly all over our this site so I will start a thread to track the various local political battles.

I see the Bears say they now want to return to Arlington Heights site for their proposed new stadium. Has the team ever finalized the financing for that site? Initially they wanted a billion dollars to move off the lakefront. But Arlington heights only has a population of 78.000. I don't think the city that size can come up with a billion dollars.

The county or the state would have to come up with the money. And I don't political understand the political benefits to elected officials of Cook County or the State of Illinois to spend a billion dollars to move a team within their jurisdiction from a Chicago, a city with a population of three million, to one much smaller.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

About 15 years ago, a local businessman proposed the city build a minor league baseball stadium - to attract a team that didn’t exist yet. It was getting lots of support. That sent me down a rabbit hole reading everything I could about publicly-financed stadium projects. I’m talking full books on the matter, economic analyses and even scholarly research papers and dissertations.

Unless things have changed not a single stadium has returned a positive ROI. And they usually wind up hurting existing businesses because people don’t have unlimited money, so if they spend $500 to get tickets that’s $500 they won’t spend at local restaurants or movie theaters.

 

[DanOregon]

I'm sure the Broncos building a new stadium with no taxpayers support (except for the traffic improvements etc that always find their way into these deals) isn't helping the Bears case.
The Giants (baseball) have been in the black on their stadium for a while, but that's baseball. One of the reasons teams want covered stadiums is for concerts and the like, but there just aren't that many acts and tours that can fill that large of a venue often enough. Even in Vegas, I don't think Allegiant is used more than 30 times a year.

 

[Woody Long]

About 15 years ago, a local businessman proposed the city build a minor league baseball stadium - to attract a team that didn’t exist yet. It was getting lots of support. That sent me down a rabbit hole reading everything I could about publicly-financed stadium projects. I’m talking full books on the matter, economic analyses and even scholarly research papers and dissertations.

Unless things have changed not a single stadium has returned a positive ROI. And they usually wind up hurting existing businesses because people don’t have unlimited money, so if they spend $500 to get tickets that’s $500 they won’t spend at local restaurants or movie theaters.

There are several great examples of this in the Northeast. In the 1990s, when Minor League Baseball boomed, Bridgeport, Newark, and Camden -- cities all desperately in need of, well, any kind of economic stimulus and redevelopment -- all built ballparks for independent league teams. All three teams eventually folded. All three ballparks lost state and city governments tens of millions of dollars, and two of the three have since been demolished, with Bridgeport's ballpark being converted into an outdoor concert venue.

 

[HanSenSE]

It seems it's not as much as the new yards, with all the bells and whistles, but the buzzword lately has been entertainment districts: the restaurants, bars, shops selling swag, ect.

 

[Woody Long]

It seems it's not as much as the new yards, with all the bells and whistles, but the buzzword lately has been entertainment districts: the restaurants, bars, shops selling swag, ect.

Yes, the new grift is not just the free ballpark, but the free ballpark and free land surrounding the ballpark that the team owner gets the exclusive right to develop (and pocket the money from that development).

 

[DanOregon]

Teams are just real estate development throw-ins. A former A's owner tried leveraging the team for years as part of a real estate deal and it never paid off. With the adjoining Great America park scheduled to close in a year or two, I wonder if the 49ers are going to absorb that property.
The San Jose Sharks are getting $300m Plus from the city for renovations, AND a commitment to start planning a new arena in the next two years. UPDATE: San Jose approves Sharks deal amid criticism - San José Spotlight
Imagine if the Sharks were GOOD? That place IS busy though.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

There are several great examples of this in the Northeast. In the 1990s, when Minor League Baseball boomed, Bridgeport, Newark, and Camden -- cities all desperately in need of, well, any kind of economic stimulus and redevelopment -- all built ballparks for independent league teams. All three teams eventually folded. All three ballparks lost state and city governments tens of millions of dollars, and two of the three have since been demolished, with Bridgeport's ballpark being converted into an outdoor concert venue.

Atlantic City has one rotting away too

 

[Woody Long]

Atlantic City has one rotting away too

Yes they do - I had forgotten about The Sandcastle because I'll do just about anything to avoid even thinking about the dumphole that is Atlantic City.

 

[MileHigh]

I expect the Broncos stadium to be top-notch/So-Fi-esque. Since coming in, they have proven to be really top-notch owners. Retractable is the way to go because they will get a Super Bowl here, which is so long overdue. And a Final Four or two.

 

[HanSenSE]

Teams are just real estate development throw-ins. A former A's owner tried leveraging the team for years as part of a real estate deal and it never paid off. With the adjoining Great America park scheduled to close in a year or two, I wonder if the 49ers are going to absorb that property.
The San Jose Sharks are getting $300m Plus from the city for renovations, AND a commitment to start planning a new arena in the next two years. UPDATE: San Jose approves Sharks deal amid criticism - San José Spotlight
Imagine if the Sharks were GOOD? That place IS busy thought

That's why the A's are playing in Sacramento while waiting for the yard in Vegas. The Coliseum site is great if it was just a ballpark, with freeway and transit access, but not so much for an entertainment district.

IIRC, the land occupied by Great America is ticketed for housing. And, yes, the Sharks do a great job of bringing events to the Tank in the off season.

 

[I Should Coco]

This topic comes up repeatedly all over our this site so I will start a thread to track the various local political battles.

I see the Bears say they now want to return to Arlington Heights site for their proposed new stadium. Has the team ever finalized the financing for that site? Initially they wanted a billion dollars to move off the lakefront. But Arlington heights only has a population of 78.000. I don't think the city that size can come up with a billion dollars.

The county or the state would have to come up with the money. And I don't political understand the political benefits to elected officials of Cook County or the State of Illinois to spend a billion dollars to move a team within their jurisdiction from a Chicago, a city with a population of three million, to one much smaller.

What really sucks about the Bears is they strong-armed the city to absolutely ruin historic Soldier Field 20 years ago to get the team to stay there. The spaceship design looks absolutely awful and out of place on the lakefront and now they'll be stuck with it as some other saps build a new stadium in the suburbs.

 

[LanceyHoward]

I expect the Broncos stadium to be top-notch/So-Fi-esque. Since coming in, they have proven to be really top-notch owners. Retractable is the way to go because they will get a Super Bowl here, which is so long overdue. And a Final Four or two.

Is the stadium going to be paid for with entirely private funds or with no new, additional taxes? What happens to the taxes that are being levied by the existing stadium district?

 

[MileHigh]

Is the stadium going to be paid for with entirely private funds or with no new, additional taxes? What happens to the taxes that are being levied by the existing stadium district?

Obviously, lots of details to be sorted out, but there will not be any new taxes, that much is certain. Guessing the city will pay for some stuff outside of the area, but the team is going to build out the area with the stadium and entertainment district. Everything they have done since taking over three years ago has been top-notch and I don't expect this to be any different.

 

[Scout]

If the Bears move to DuPage or Lake County, would it hurt Cook County?

Everything is worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

It's kind of interesting to me that, in the 70s and 80s, the trend was to build in the suburbs, only to have everything shift back to building downtown and building these stadium districts, and now we're looking at the suburbs again. Wait until some city finds a way to build a modern multi-purpose stadium because it's silly to have a stadium sit empty for half of a year.

 

[DanOregon]

A football only stadium is lucky to be used 30 times a year. That's one month of a year.
Always thought they should use Allegient in Vegas as the worlds largest sports book. Slots, gaming, the whole bit.

 

[Webster]

People and therefore the politicians who are elected by said people are incredibly irrational when it comes to their sports teams. I’d be ok with things like tax breaks or road improvements if there is a tangible return to the municipality (like a percentage of the parking or concessions)

 

[Inky_Wretch]

People and therefore the politicians who are elected by said people are incredibly irrational when it comes to their sports teams. I’d be ok with things like tax breaks or road improvements if there is a tangible return to the municipality (like a percentage of the parking or concessions)

Even with those kickbacks, the municipality winds up losing money.

 

[Flip Wilson]

In these parts, there's supposedly plans for a minor league park as part of a billion-dollar renovation of downtown and the riverfront. As much as I like the idea, the park is part of phase 2 or 3 of the plan and, if it happens, will be built 15 or 20 years down the road, which means I'll be old as dirt and probably won't be able to enjoy it.

Several years ago, some developer floated plans for a stadium in the lower-income suburb where I grew up. As soon as I heard that idea, I thought there's no way that will ever, ever happen. And it has never, never happened.