Tag: Virginia

Arena

Washington Wizards & Capitals owner wants everyone to know how much the community is atop his mind

Last year, local taxpayers provided Leonsis with $515 million of taxpayer money to purchase and renovate the arena. Washington, DC, an area that was deep into an economic crisis last year and still is this year, gave a man with a net worth of $4 billion that amount of money? In fact, why on earth is DC buying the arena? Oh, that is right..."so Leonsis and his partners won't have to pay taxes on 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

Speaking of business done in secret, Washington D.C. officials clearly broke the open meetings law

Last week, the city of Alexandria pulled out of negotiations with the Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals & Wizards, on his plan to move to Alexandria, Virginia. This killed the deal. One of the reasons the deal was scuttled was due to the Governor of Virginia trying to force the state legislature to accept a “take it or leave it, already-done deal that they can’t kick the tires on and look under the…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

Negotiations continue to happen in secret across the country, all without the public seeing or hearing about it

This is not going to shock anyone. Sports owners hate when their plans are released and looked at intensively. Have you ever read a sports venue agreement? Try reading the Potomac Yard Economic and Fiscal Impact Study from the failed Capitals/Wizards to Alexandria, Virginia proposal. The agreements are almost impossible to read and understand unless you read these types of documents daily. This is why billionaire owners aren’t always forthcoming with initial sports venue details.…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Philadelphia CEO has numerous “facts” showing how good a new Philadelphia 76ers arena will be for local residents. Then provides nothing whatsoever.

Like most parts of this proposal, local anger about public transportation comes from the lack of answers by the Philadelphia 76ers. The team initially stated that their transportation plans for the new arena would involve no new parking additions due to “existing lots and garages (being) sufficient”. How on earth could the 76ers think this? Well, they released an estimate that the new arena would bring in 3,700 cars per game, which is quite low.…

William Neilson Jr.
Stadium

The Washington Commanders/Commanders have officially stopped screwing over Richmond, Virginia

The city of Richmond at this time was dealing with “revenue shortfalls” that “forced (public) schools to cut millions of dollars … forcing scores of layoffs, furloughs and other job cuts”. What better time to help out a billionaire sports owner. That year, the Washington Redskins (Commanders will be used from now on) announced that their training camp would move 100 miles south to Richmond in the following year, 2013. The agreement states that summer…

William Neilson Jr.
Arena

Are the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards relocating to Arlington? No

Weeks ago, MSE met with DC leaders to discuss expensive improvements that the team wants to be done to the arena. MSE apparently went into this meeting with the hope that “the city (would) help pay for (the project) as an investment in a major economic driver in the struggling downtown”. Normally, the city is obligated legally to give the sports team whatever it wants for renovations or upgrades (see the Bengals as the king…

William Neilson Jr.
Ballpark

Richmond leaders approve Diamond District ballpark but seem unclear what they just agreed to do

Several days ago, the City of Richmond came to an agreement with the developers of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, a minor league baseball team. For years, the Squirrels have been threatening to relocate unless they were built a brand-new ballpark. When the owner wasn't threatening to leave, Major League Baseball (MLB) would step in and demand upgrades to the ballpark on the taxpayers dime. This year, MLB demanded that Richmond update the ballpark to the…

William Neilson Jr.