Arena

Sacramento Kings arena is losing money. MLS keeps turning down city expansion efforts. Mayor thinks more sports teams would help

Did we mention that San Diego, the city who did win the expansion team, paid a $500 million expansion fee? That is three times what their proposed stadium was supposed to cost. Yikes. The mayor also seems to enjoy telling the public how much he is doing behind the scenes. He can't just tell us because...he can't. He told the Sacramento Bee that when it comes to whether Sacramento will get an MLS team, the…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

The Sacramento Kings arena has revenue questions both for today and in the future

Sacramento's debt manager recently announced that at the end of 2024, a city assessment will need to be done to figure out how the city will pay off the arena's bond debt. The city may be forced to dip into their general fund to pay off the bonds that are due. Similar to what the city had to do in 2021-2022 when arena revenues were again down to a point where the revenues did not…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

Why in the world would the city of Jacksonville pay 70% of the stadium upgrades?

Jacksonville has already given so much to the Jaguars. Remember when the city hosted the Super Bowl in 2015? Around $40 million dollars in taxpayer money was given to the team to improve the stadium just for that game. In 2013, the city gave the team another $45 million for upgrades and renovations. In 2015, the city split the bill with the team on a $90 million project....so another $45 million.

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

Anaheim Angels continue to violate their lease. Oh well, maybe next year

The facts, however, show otherwise. Since 2002, the Anaheim Angels have spent $54 million on capital repairs/improvements with $12 million coming from the city. Additionally, a number of the so-called improvement projects were just upgrades that the team wanted, such as replacing their scoreboard to a newer model. Building permits show that the Angels were spending money from their pockets so that they could buy the cool, new gadget and not the contractually obligated maintenance.

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The Philadelphia Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays are fighting each other for tourist dollars

When the Tampa Bay Rays do construct a new ballpark, it will be with a significant amount of taxpayer money. For years, it has been reported that the Rays are “willing to finance half of the cost of a new (ballpark)”. How nice of them. But the Rays couldn't build it on their own if they wanted to because their owner isn't wealthy enough to fund such a project. This means the Rays will need…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Philadelphia 76ers Lobbying Firm “forgot” to disclose who bankrolls them

Last summer, the Philadelphia 76ers announced that they were going to try to build a brand-new $1.3 billion dollar arena in the Chinatown district of Philadelphia. This comes after the city spent roughly $250 million on the arena in 2018. Even though the team continues to publicly assert that the arena will be “privately funded”, nobody has seen a contract which proves it. Two years ago, the 76ers owners claimed that they would “privately fund”…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

NHL continues to poke Raleigh for even more taxpayer money

Why exactly is the city of Raleigh even entertaining the team if they want more money in the near future? The team pays $0 per year in rent yet collects 100% of revenue from “concessions, gameday advertising, television rights, parking and luxury and club suites”. Moreover, keep in mind that the team already gets $4.335 million per year to “offset arena operating expenses”. Doesn't the city do that anyway?

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

Spartanburg claims new ballpark will be an “explosion of development” yet still gives few financial details

Last week, it was announced that Spartanburg, South Carolina would be getting a minor league baseball team. The ballpark is reportedly part of a $250 million dollar project to develop property in the city's downtown district. According to one city council member, the ballpark will “set off an explosion of development” and bring an “economic boom” to the city.

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

Worcester was promised that Polar Park would pay for itself, it has not and will not

In 2018, Worcester, Massachusetts, agreed to finance a substantial portion of taxpayer money to build a brand-new ballpark. Although the city would be borrowing around $100.8 million for this project (making it the 4th most expensive minor league ballpark to be built), city leaders justified this expense by stating how the ballpark would fund itself, if not make the city money in the long term. At the press conference announcing the deal, the city manager…

William Neilson Jr.