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 state’s general fund” since 1970. If the Blazers…
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San Antonio city council moves forward on a new arena based on “useless”, “incomplete” & “inadequate” economic report
This week, the city of San Antonio, Texas, voted to move forward with the November election that will decide the fate of the $1.3 billion arena (and other projects), called Project Marvel. This week, the team contacted every media outlet that it could find to discuss how great this deal was for the city. So residents heard that this deal will create $10 billion in direct spending! Or that it will create $350 million in new taxes for the city! Sounds great. Except, it is all bull. These numbers…
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As the San Antonio Spurs insist on a tax election this spring, they continue hiding almost all of the arena costs and details
Do people remember how the San Antonio Spurs tried to get a new arena built in 1999? One of their brilliant proposals included a plan to take money away from elementary schools that were teaching children on an already bare-bones budget. Screw the kiddies! Build it! Furthermore, it wasn't that long ago when San Antonio taxpayers gave the team over $100 million dollars for a massive renovation of the arena. I wonder what happened to those upgrades. At the very least, let us be happy that the…
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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 a deal is done first. How can this be legal? We are talking about taxpayer money. We are talking…
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San Antonio Spurs have been secretly negotiating with city officials for quite awhile on a new arena
In September of last year, the San Antonio Spurs General Manager and City Manager met to discuss improvements to the city-owned Alamodome, where the Spurs play home games. We know this because the San Antonio Express-News has text messages showing the GM asking to meet the city official to discuss "facility infrastructure".
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The San Antonio Spurs continue to milk the city for taxpayer money
The Spurs not only demanded roughly $164 million to upgrade their arena, they claimed that without this money, they wouldn't be able to “pay the player salaries”. The team even had a way of funding their next arena. Just extend the venue tax that helped fund the construction of the arena.
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