Tag: Field Of Schemes

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

How many times will MLB threaten a minor league city and then walk back that threat when the deadline passes?

Lately, we have seen virtually every minor league team tell their local jurisdictions that they require millions of taxpayer dollars for upgrades to their ballparks. They require it quickly too because Major League Baseball has given us a date…or else! This forced many cities to give money to the teams without much, if any, examination of the actual details. As Ballpark Digest noted in a story, this is why a number of minor league teams…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Philadelphia 76ers pinky swear they will prioritize minorities even more

The idea that this Philadelphia 76ers deal can be looked at as privately funded is crazy. Nobody can say whether this project is actually privately funded until all the details of the project are released by the team. We don't know who is paying for the land where the new arena would sit. Furthermore, the 76ers still intend to demand a “tax increment financing deal” that would cut their property tax rates and allow them…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

10 years ago, Biloxi, Mississippi built a new ballpark and promised economic home-runs

The ballpark was to be built for the Biloxi Shuckers, the Class AA affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2015, the city spent $36 million to build a new ballpark. Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant claimed the new ballpark “would be an economic development driver for the area”. A local foundation estimated that this new ballpark would result in “an additional $10 million annually in visitor spending”. As AL.com notes, the ballpark came with a “promise…

William Neilson Jr.