Stadium

San Francisco 49ers owner, Jed York, continues spending millions to sway local politicians. When will it be called out nationally?

Recently, San Francisco 49ers owner, Jed York, created “two new political action committees” so that he could sway the public into electing a 49ers-friendly mayor and city councilmen. The team handed over $645,000 and $335,000 to the committees supporting the 49ers' preferred candidates. Nobody should be surprised by this. York has spent millions on every election since 2014, the year that the 49ers' stadium was built in Santa Clara. But it still surprises me how…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena Ballpark Stadium

Team owners continue to get out of paying for venue upgrades when they are responsible for keeping it at a “First-Class Condition”

The new owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, Tom Dundon, told Portland city leaders that he won't negotiate with them until language is changed in the lease agreement between the city and the team. Dundon is demanding the removal of language that requires the team to keep the Moda Center in first-class condition. When an agreement includes a “First-Class Condition” or “State-of-the-Art” clause, it requires the facility owner (either the city/county or the team itself)…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

FIFA made $15B from this World Cup. Actual businesses near the matches? Not so much…

Now that the World Cup is over, I went looking to see how businesses did in host cities. FIFA made $15B in revenue from the current World Cup. That is a considerable amount of money to be taking in from this event. Surely the host cities will see some of that money, right? No, host cities get none of this money. Before I could even look into how local businesses did during the matches, I found…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

Chicago Fire owner was praised for not “asking the city for money” when he proposed his new stadium…yet now he wants $425M of taxpayer funds

Last year, the owner of the Chicago Fire, Joe Mansueto, announced that the MLS club was moving forward with plans to build a new stadium. While the costs varied between $650M and $750M, the stadium would be “privately-funded.” Local media and other news outlets praised Mansueto for not forcing costs onto taxpayers.

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark Stadium

The Washington Commanders owner is “frustrated” when he is asked to negotiate a deal that was done in secret for months

Sports owners are trying to negotiate their new stadiums in secret and then refuse to negotiate once the agreements are in the public eye. Recently, the owners of the Tampa Bay Rays and Washington Commanders have used this tactic, although in slightly different ways. Residents of both Tampa Bay and Washington DC were never involved in stadium talks before an announcement was made on a new stadium. Once their deals were announced, the Rays claimed…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena Ballpark Stadium

San Antonio editorial wants taxpayers to follow the “spirit of the agreement”, yet teams never seem to care about it

The Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E) owe the city of San Antonio and Bexar County $5 million because of a failed 2015 MLS bid. The city, county, and SS&E were all involved in the bidding for a team and signed an agreement stating that SS&E would pay $5M if the bid didn't produce an MLS team. Yet, to this day, SS&E has not paid for it, nor has the city tried to push the team…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium Arena Ballpark

Will news sites ever properly label people who are clearly biased or have an interest in the venue?

Yesterday, I saw an opinion piece in the Sports Business Journal. The point of the piece was just how great the World Cup will make our stadiums look for future events. The article claims that the current stadiums that are hosting World Cup matches shortly are all in top-notch form and can handle any future “World Cup (matches), Super Bowl(s) & specialty events, concerts, and more.” About here is where I started to wonder whether…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark Stadium

In Chicago, Kansas City & Tampa Bay, sports owners are trying to push new venues without any public input or review

If you are a sports owner, massive projects should and do get agreed upon in weeks, if not a month or two…max. I have written numerous times about how almost every sports owner runs the same play every time. The sports owner will come out and demand a new stadium and mandate that a deal must be done within weeks due to…reasons unknown. If this isn't good enough, then the team will possibly relocate. The…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The Arizona Diamondbacks just got $500M of taxpayer money yet now want even more

Recently, Arizona Diamondbacks officials have issued several public statements that seem to suggest that the team will demand more taxpayer money. Since the lease agreement between the team and county expires after the 2028 season, the Diamondbacks are apparently using this as a reason for more taxpayer money to be given to them. This week, the team opened up to being shocked at how much it costs to repair and upgrade equipment at their ballpark. The…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

Can anyone support the constant waste of public money by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority?

In 2024, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) spent more than $2.2M on “influencers to promote the city.” However, the LVCVA refused to tell the public how much each influencer received because LVCVA claimed it was a “trade secret.” Let me get this straight. A taxpayer-funded agency is giving taxpayer money to a contractor, and the public isn't allowed to know who was paid what?

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The St. Louis Cardinals owners yet again want significant taxpayer funds while giving almost nothing

Let's move up to today. Guess what DeWitt II wants? Busch Stadium needs a “significant capital infusion” in the upcoming years at the latest. My guess is that he will get something substantial around the $500 million mark. I don't think they should but I am just stating that I don't think local leaders would stop them from taking this amount of taxpayer money. The spin would probably just be that the Cardinals are taking just…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Since Portland passed a law to help bring an MLB team, the Trail Blazers would like some more money for Moda Center

Now, the Portland Trail Blazers would like some of that money. According to OregonLive, the Blazers want an “estimated $20 million per year” to be given to them “from the state’s general fund.” The team claims that this allows them to start a $600 million renovation of the current arena. However, as OregonLive notes, the Blazers' situation is not similar to last year's MLB giveaway. The NBA team's players/staff have already been paying “into the…

William Neilson Jr.