Think Progress points out that Selig used the same arguments to get the Marlins a new stadium before that experiment turned...um...ugly.
The Field of Schemes blog adds that "Selig calls team in pennant race and making money 'economically not tolerable' " and new stadiums are not always fixes for attendance problems:
There’s inevitably a temporary bump in attendance from a new stadium, since people turn out just to gawk, but history has shown that that can last anywhere from a few weeks (the Marlins) to maybe eight years or so (the Cleveland Indians) before attendance returns to background levels.Interesting column in the Lakeland Ledger, listing the top 10 reasons the Rays are struggling at the gate. I don't necessarily agree with all of them, but Dick Scanlon nails a few of the big ones: lack of transit and lack of tradition.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan continues to "flirt" with the idea of a Tampa stadium, but according to the Tampa Bay Times, he said "Hillsborough County isn't going to build it and taxpayer won't be asked to pay for it. In all likelihood, it may take several sources of money to pay for a stadium, and that could include private interests beyond the team, he said."
Oh, and the city of Detroit is bankrupt. Yet the idea of paying $200 million for a new Red Wings arena seems to be on the table still.
Happy reading and happy weekend!
Robo-Bud, just wind him up and he spews the same old threats at the same times every year.
ReplyDeleteI guess it's true, "negativity sales". Random articles that might interest "sports junkies" like myself, but as far as substance, just a bunch of watered down articles that's all aimed to discredit the idea of a ballpark in Tampa. Keep up the good fight NO'ah, and maybe when your future kids (?) are having fun running the bases after a Sunday afternoon game in time @ the new ballpark, you can proudly tell'em "you did everything you could to prevent this day"... lol
ReplyDeleteI think it's fair to say that Bud Selig has presided over the most corrupt chapter in the history of baseball, turning a blind eye to the desecration of the most storied "record book" in sport, and turning our national pastime into a (at times) national punchline. I further think there will be no resolution to the "Rays problem" (whatever that is) until he has exited the stage.
ReplyDeleteIt strikes me too that MLB teams put up sometimes $50 million dollars just to TALK to players in the Japanese league, with no guarantee they will sign them. Let MLB put $50 million dollars on Bill Foster's desk tomorrow, and not only can the Rays move wherever they want, but Bill Foster will be re-elected mayor. Much as I love the Rays in St. Pete, I think we can use $50 million dollars in our community more.
Brendan,
ReplyDeleteGreat point regarding MLB team putting up $50 million to talk to a player (e. g. Yu Darvish - Texas Rangers). And how about an MLB team (NY Yankees) signing Alex Rodriguez to a 10 year contract back in 2007 which extends to when A-Rod is 42 years old. Maybe Hank Steinbrenner could not do the date arithmetic back then whey they signed the contract, or maybe he was not planning for A-Rod to come off steriods,which would have allowed him to have his most productive seasons at the back end of his career, like Barry Bonds.
Anyhow, A-Rod has cumulative career earnings through the 2013 season, of $353 million, and still has $86 million to realize for the subsequent 4 seasons. Bottom line, owners are extremely smart and ruthless when dealing with our elected officials to get public money to pay for their stadiums, and incredibly stupid and gutless when negotiating player contracts. Of course, they can be stupid and gutless with the players because of their obscene success rate with sucking money from the taxpayers.
Actually the 50 million dollars posting fee to talk to a japanese player is refunded if he doesn't sign.
ReplyDelete