Tag: Sales Tax

Ballpark Stadium

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

Over the last few weeks, I have read several stories concerning the way that several 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…

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

In today's world, getting large construction projects done takes time. In fact, just getting the county/city to approve a large project will take many months, if not years. Just getting a permit can take upwards of 9-12 months. That is just the beginning. The reality is that new projects of big sizes can and do take years to fully build. As one company described to City Journal, the process of trying to build infrastructure projects…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The Kansas City Royals continue to push forward on one of the worst organized ballpark plans ever put together

A few months ago, I wrote a story on the Kansas City Royals and their crazy ways of trying to convince taxpayers to give them a billion dollars through an increased sales tax (for a new ballpark). As I said in the story, the Royals decided that the best way to do this was by making sure that residents were “confused about every detail of their potential ballpark.” Rather than finish important deals months before…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The Kansas City Royals owner keeps promising to be transparent in the future yet never seems to follow through

In 2022, the Kansas City Royals owner, John Sherman, wrote a letter to fans telling them that he intended to move the Royals to a new ballpark in the future. Sherman didn't give any substantial information on the ballpark plans except to say that any decision made by the team will think of residents first and that “transparency” would continue to be their “guidepost.” The Kansas City Royals also announced in 2022 that they were…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

St. Louis City SC owners do not need or want public money…just the many millions of taxpayer dollars they get every year

In 2017, an ownership group wanted to bring an MLS team to St. Louis. But they also wanted $60 million from taxpayers. It went to a vote and failed, as most residents wanted nothing to do with it. But then the following year, in 2018, St. Louis residents were told that new owners of a future MLS team (a local family connected to Enterprise) were “prepared to pay for a $250 million downtown stadium in…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

“Business groups” in Kansas City push local officials to build the Royals a new ballpark…without disclosing the Royals connections to the groups

This won't be that long of a story. I just saw this tonight, and it made me laugh for one reason. It is something that I am seeing more of the last few years with certain media outlets. But let's start at the beginning. In April 2024, residents of Jackson County, Missouri voted definitively not to extend a 40-year sales tax that would have funded repairs to the Kansas City Chiefs stadium and help build…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The Minnesota Twins want to stay put for decades to come…in exchange for taxpayer money on a yearly basis

The Minnesota Twins love playing in Minnesota. Team representatives talked to local media this week and brought up their desire to play in the state for “decades to come”. In fact, the team wants to put pen to paper to stay at their current ballpark until 2059! In return, the team doesn't want anything big or flashy. They just want a lot of taxpayer money given to them every single year. No big deal. Get…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

Ohio State Politician slips in language to a bill at 1am so that the Bengals can save almost $10 million dollars in taxes

The Cincinnati Bengals are known to be run by one of the cheapest owners in the NFL, Mike Brown. In 1996, local leaders were not prepared to competently negotiate against the team of lawyers brought in by the Bengals. Everyone was shocked when they found out that the county had agreed to pay for “nearly all operating and capital improvement costs”. It gets worse though, as the county also agreed to pay for all sorts…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

After being told that a Final Four would bring trillions to the area, the city of Glendale accepts that they made almost nothing off it

Around 2010, the NCAA told Final Four host cities to generally expect an economic boost between $70 and $200 million. Last year, Glendale, Arizona was told that it could make $270 million dollars in economic impact from hosting a Final Four event in 2024. This year, some groups mentioned the possibility of the state making an impact between $250-$300 million from the Final Four. Others believed it was possibly for the state to bring in…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The Kansas City Royals screwed themselves yet still blame everyone else

The Kansas City Royals lost yesterday. Local taxpayers decisively rejected a sales tax plan that would have provided funding for a new ballpark and stadium renovations (for the Chiefs). Clearly, the public said no thank you to funding another billionaire owner's venue while receiving nothing in return. Why couldn't locals see that this deal was worth it? The Royals committed nearly every blunder that could have been committed when they attempted to persuade the public…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

St. Louis MLS owners required no “direct taxes” in 2019…now they are increasing the sales tax rate to 12.7%

In 2019, St. Louis was riding high with an ownership group buying their way into the Major League Soccer league. The owners had even selected a piece of land for their soccer stadium that many others coveted. This would “serve as the centerpiece of a new real estate development” in downtown St. Louis. Most importantly, the ownership group claimed in interview after interview that the taxpayers would not be funding this entire project…just a bit…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The Kansas City Royals ask taxpayers to give them $1 billion. Then ask for additional $700 million…maybe more?

The Kansas City Royals must love keeping secrets. After announcing to everyone in 2022 that they were leaving their current ballpark, it took two years for them to finally tell us where the new one would be built. But anything else? Good luck. Things got so bad last year that the team owner had to write a public letter telling everyone to relax and just wait for the new ballpark to be announced. Months later,…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

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

Last month, WLOX did a fantastic story on whether the city of Biloxi was getting what was financially promised from a new ballpark that was built 10 years ago. The short answer is not even slightly. 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…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

The Kansas City Royals have managed to confuse local leaders, annoy fans & baffle local media….in their search for a new ballpark

17 years ago, Kansas City spent $250 million dollars in taxpayer money to update Kauffman Stadium, the ballpark for the Kansas City Royals.  In exchange for getting this money 17 years ago, the team extended the ballpark lease until 2031. Given that Kauffman Stadium is one of the oldest in Major League Baseball (MLB), it wasn't a surprise to see the Royals announce last year that they were looking into places for a new ballpark.…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

Milwaukee Brewers continue ballpark upgrades push, not moving very fast

For the last few months, the Brewers have been begging city/state leaders to give them money for so-called ballpark upgrades. Last month, the Governor of Wisconsin proposed giving the Brewers almost $300 million in public money in exchange for an additional 13 years being added to the lease. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote a good story detailing how this proposal really meant that taxpayers will end up paying closer to $450 million in renovations over…

William Neilson Jr.