Tag: Sportico

Ballpark Stadium

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

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 announcement was made on a new stadium. Once their deals were announced, the Rays claimed…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

In Oklahoma, some believe that an ownership group is proving their “commitment” to the area when they pay just 5% for a $900M new arena

In the NBA, the value of teams is rising at a rather insane pace. In 2006, the current owners of the Thunder bought the team for $350M. Now, the value of the team hovers around $3.5B. But that doesn't matter because these owners are committed to the area. Right? Some have even claimed that these owners bring a “tremendous selflessness” towards the team and city.

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

When the Kansas City Royals tried to garner some support for the sales tax vote last year, they paid a company, Jones Lang LaSalle, a Chicago-based real estate company, to write and release an economic impact report on a potential ballpark. But, it didn't take long for problems to come out of this idea. The Royals paid Jones Lang LaSalle to write this report without caring or realizing that Jones Lang LaSalle had no experience…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

The Chicago Bears continue to meet with local officials and tell them absolutely nothing

The Chicago Bears also forgot to add in the multiple billions that taxpayer would owe for stadium and infrastructure costs. This means that taxpayers would likely be paying 70% of the cost, if not more. What about the other sports teams wanting billions for their own stadiums? If the team had somehow gotten this deal to go through, the bill for taxpayers could have been so much higher than what the team claimed.

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Charlotte continues to hand over public money to whatever sports team needs it. Next up, the Hornets!

Last week, Michael Jordan decided to cash out as majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets. The new owners will have an upgraded arena thanks to the city council, last week, voting to spend $215 million dollars in taxpayer money for Spectrum Center upgrades. For these upgrades, the team extended its lease until 2045. Included in this deal is not just arena upgrades. The new agreement includes plans to build a $60 million dollar practice facility.

William Neilson Jr.