There has been much fanfare in Metro Detroit about the $863 million new stadium downtown that serves as the new home for both the Red Wings and the Pistons, which was paid for in part by $324 million in public money from the city and the state. The stadium, which is named after cheap pizza, is by all accounts…
MLS is not and for the foreseeable future will not be one of this country’s so-called Big Four, but let no one say the scrappy upstart doesn’t extort American cities like a big-boy league. The league’s rapid expansion—someone without a stake in the matter would say too rapid—has cities from Cincinnati to St. Louis to …
If you read the press release announcing the construction of a new ballpark out in Summerlin, Nev. for the Las Vegas 51s, you might have thought that the construction would mercifully be completed without use of public money. The Raiders’ stadium deal is the worst heist in American history, and one may have thought…
Let’s cut through the sports angle and put in plain terms exactly what’s happening here:
The Calgary Flames announced today that they’re done trying to bilk hundreds of millions of dollars from the city to pay for a new arena, again suggesting that they’re ready and willing to relocate if that’s what it takes to get a new stadium that they don’t have to fund themselves—unless, that is, citizens speak up…
The new story of Detroit is, by now, old. Over several decades, a once prosperous automotive mecca fell into disarray for a litany of reasons—white flight, an eroding tax base, crime—and, after filing for bankruptcy in 2013, has since evolved into a sentimental comeback story for the ages. When a new arena for the…
Nine years ago, Seattle’s sports scene was in about as dire circumstances as a city can get. The owner of the SuperSonics, Starbucks mogul Howard Schultz, had thrown a hissy fit over Washington’s refusal to gift him $220 million to renovate an arena that had just been renovated 11 years earlier, and sold the team to…
Eighteen days after Ohio’s Supreme Court decided that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ proposed $140 million arena renovations merited a referendum and the public’s input, the NBA team has decided to pull out of the project.
The New Orleans Pelicans will launch a developmental-league team before the start of the 2018-19 season, but first, they have to decide where it’ll go. Five cities were initially vying for the right to join the NBA’s minor league (which recently rebranded to serve as an advertisement for a sports drink company), and…
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ arena was renovated 12 years ago, but team owner Dan Gilbert has spent almost a year fighting a pitched battle to divert millions of dollars in public money towards extensive arena renovations. The proposed slate of renovations would cost $140 million, with half the tab being picked up by…
In 1965, voters from the five counties that still make up metro Atlanta—Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Clayton and DeKalb—went to the ballot box to decide the future of the region’s public transportation system. The counties that voted “yes” would begin planning a regional rail system that would eventually be called MARTA…
The Brewers want a new spring training park. Gilbert, Ariz., would like to give it to them. The stadium would cost $90 million; the Brewers offered to pay $20 million of that. The adjoining mixed-use “village,” including retail and hotel, would cost another $70 million; the Brewers offered to pay none of that.
The Diamondbacks are bringing Major League Baseball into their ongoing attempt to fleece taxpayers out of more money to get a new ballpark. An attorney for the D-backs is claiming that MLB has claimed that if they don’t get a new ballpark or major upgrades to their current park, the league “might” force the team to…
When we last checked in on the progress of the Atlanta Falcons’ new stadium, which features an eight-petal retractable roof known as “Megatron’s Butthole,” things were stopped up. The Atlanta Journal Constitution brings us an update today, and it looks like the hole will remain closed for some time.
On Wednesday, the University of Louisville agreed to increase its annual lease payment to the Louisville Arena Authority, which manages the arena in which Louisville plays its basketball games, by $2.42 million each year. The vote to approve the new deal was a contentious one, and not all of the university’s board…
In 1993, three banks agreed to fund the construction of the Boston Garden. After bitter political quarreling between developers and the city, a deal was eventually struck to build the $160 million facility. At the time, the New York Times wrote:
The taxpayer-funded new sports arena in Detroit that is not named after Gordie Howe unveiled a new “feature” Tuesday, one that will now dominate any aerial view of Detroit on every TV broadcast in the foreseeable future. The roof of the new arena features a gigantic, ugly logo for a third-rate pizza joint:
The New York Times put out a lengthy report today detailing the past 10 years of the “New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund,” a charity the team created after they caught heat for taking public park land to build its new coliseum in the South Bronx.
Just over 30,000 people filled Nippert Stadium last week to watch FC Cincinnati upset the Columbus Crew 1-0. It was a huge victory for the nascent USL squad as they eye an expansion bid to join Columbus in MLS. But a move to America’s top tier comes at a cost: A new stadium.
The Detroit Pistons will soon move back to the city after nearly 40 years of playing out in the suburbs. The public will provide at least $305 million of the $945 million that it cost to build the new pizza-themed, arena as well as a new practice facility for the team. The actual cost will almost certainly end up…
