Category: Arena

Arena

The Philadelphia 76ers should be embarrassed at their refusal to put more money into the CBA

But what about the changes that will need to be made to the metro system right below this new arena? This metro system, called SEPTA, needs almost $250 million dollars from the state just to stay afloat this year. As the city noted in talks today, SEPTA is in a “financial crisis”. However, if the Philadelphia 76ers want this metro station to be operational for arena events, it will need $30 million dollars worth of…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Cleveland taxpayers voted to build sports venues, not pay for costly upgrades at the teams request

As I have written about in the past here, the Cavs and Guardians have all but hit their 20-year allotted amount (which totaled $260M for all three teams) yet still continue to demand more and more money from taxpayers. The city and county have gotten so desperate that they are approving team requests with no idea how or if the city could even afford it. Have things gotten better in the last few months? Of…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena Ballpark Stadium

The absurdity of non-disclosure agreements, sports and taxpayer money

The San Antonio Spurs want a new arena. That isn't new or shocking news. But if you want actual news on this subject? Good luck.  For the last year or so, the Spurs and city officials have kept every possible detail out of public view if it pertains to a new arena. No discussions. No interviews. Just silence. Now, will taxpayers end up paying quite a bit? Sure. But they won't know about it until…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena Ballpark Stadium

Yet another “historic” community benefits agreement…this time in Chattanooga

In July, the Chattanooga Lookouts, a minor league baseball team, reached an agreement with the city to build a new ballpark. Although the price was originally going to be $79.5 million, the final price tag was actually $120 million. Not to worry, though, as the public contribution amount is capped at…$112 million? Ever since 2022, local groups in Chattanooga have been pressuring local officials to make sure that the community was represented whenever a community…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena Stadium

Isn’t it great when sports owners announce upgrades to their arena while contributing little to nothing themselves?

In Utah, the Smith Entertainment Group owns the local NBA and NHL teams. In order for this group to get almost a billion dollars from taxpayers to pay for upgrades to the current arena, the Group pledged to pay $3B dollars of their own money on upgrading the arena and renovations outside the venue. Only problem? Nobody knows any details about this pledge to pay $3B dollars. Can he walk away from this? Is it…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Speaking of business done in secret, Washington D.C. officials clearly broke the open meetings law

Last week, the city of Alexandria pulled out of negotiations with the Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals & Wizards, on his plan to move to Alexandria, Virginia. This killed the deal. One of the reasons the deal was scuttled was due to the Governor of Virginia trying to force the state legislature to accept a “take it or leave it, already-done deal that they can’t kick the tires on and look under the…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Forsyth County leaders should be ashamed for the taxpayer-friendly changes put into the NHL proposal

The new developer, Vernon Krause, talked to the Forsyth County Commission and had public engagement listening sessions. One commissioner called this project an “economic driver like no other...(that) will create a halo effect that will raise the County’s visibility”. Forsyth’s local leaders were on board with this plan. They even visited NHL headquarters recently. To show their commitment, the country voted to give $350 million to the arena and $40 million for a new parking…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

The Miami Heat continue to screw over Miami-Dade County by refusing to follow through on their promised waterfront park

In 2003, a part of Parcel B required seawall work that cost $6 million to fix. How did the Miami Heat pay for this? They didn't. They gave the land back to the county, but continued “to lease it for extra parking and staging at special events”. This allowed the Heat to keep using it while being responsible for nothing. In 2020, the city decided that enough was enough. After 25 years, the city council…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Applied Economics teaches the Sacramento Kings how to polish a small turd into a large diamond

Didn't Sacramento arena critics foresee this exact issue in 2013-2014, when the deal was being discussed publicly? Why yes, they did. Not to worry, though, as “city officials…insisted it wasn’t likely” that the city would ever need to dip into their general fund since parking revenues would always cover the yearly bond payments. You see, the arena deal “protects the general fund” as arena supporters claimed in 2013.

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

If the current San Antonio Spurs arena never lived up to its economic promises, why would another new arena be any different?

The San Antonio Spurs believe that a new arena would revitalize downtown. Except, haven't San Antonio residents heard that claim before? Yes, they heard this exact claim many times. Why? Because the Spurs seem to ask for a new arena every few years. Whenever they push for a new home, we get to hear about the many claims of economic glory that will follow a new sports venue. Arguably the biggest issue with the last…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Little Caesars Arena was going to change Detroit per the Ilitch Family, then it did nothing

Back in 2014, the city of Detroit was debating what to do with their old arena that the Detroit Red Wings played in. On one hand, they could do nothing and let the Red Wings figure out what to do on their own. On the other hand, they could give the Red Wings owners, the Ilitch Family, hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to build a new arena. When the Ilitch family initially proposed a…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena Ballpark Stadium

When Utah leaders say that taxpayers “will not” pay for a ballpark, they mean that $900 million taxpayer dollars will be used

Over the last few months, more and more stories have been popping up online that discuss whether Salt Lake City or the state of Utah should build a ballpark for some future MLB expansion team. Utah residents have therefore been asking local leaders who exactly would be paying for such a project. Rep. Ryan Wilcox, R-Ogden, has an answer. He wants residents to know that local taxpayers will not be left on base holding the…

William Neilson Jr.