stadium-financing Page 3 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Las Vegas Sneakily Gave Away $80 Million For A New Triple-A Stadium
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 ...
What The NHL Is Doing In Calgary Is Pretty Gross
Let’s cut through the sports angle and put in plain terms exactly what’s happening here:...
Flames, NHL Claim Team May Move If Calgary Doesn't Give Rich Asshole Millions
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, ...
Want To Avoid Getting Screwed On Arena Deals? Look To Seattle.<em></em>
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...
Cavaliers Give Up On Trying To Make Cleveland Pay For Arena Renovations
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....
Here Is Another Incredibly Sad Attempt At Arena Financing Grift
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 dr...
Ohio Supreme Court Rules That Dan Gilbert's Proposed Arena Renovations Deserve A Referendum
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 bein...
The Braves' New Ballpark Is An Urban Planner's Nightmare
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...
Study Finds Buying Brewers New Spring Training Park Will Lose Money, So Town Buries Study And Commissions Friendlier One
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 no...
Diamondbacks Run To Mommy To Further Attempt To Gouge Arizona Taxpayers
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” f...
"Megatron's Butthole" To Remain Clenched
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....
Louisville's Arena Deal Is A Complete Disaster
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 uni...
Teens Discover The Boston Garden Has Ignored Law For Decades, May Owe State Millions
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:...
Taxpayer-Funded Detroit Arena Now Sports Massive, Hideous Corporate Ad
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...
Report: Yankees Charity Is Being Shady About Where Its Money Goes
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. ...
Cincinnati, Home Of Terrible Stadium Deals, Is Being Extorted For A New MLS Stadium
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....
Detroit Officials Argue That Inability To Give Billionaires Free Money Will Harm City Finances
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 ce...
Brian Burke To Calgary: Nice Hockey Team You Got Here, Shame If Something Happened To It
It’s remarkable that one of the most blatant threats to leave a city somehow begins with the words “we’re not going to make the threat to leave”:...
Cal Is Fucked Because Of Its Stupid Stadium Deal
The University of California-Berkeley first built Memorial Stadium atop their campus in 1923 as a tribute to those who died fighting World War I. It’s one of the most beautiful college football stadiums in the country, a gem perched in the Berkeley Hills that overlooks the East Bay, San Francisco, a...
Why Is Detroit's City Council Giving Away Free Money To Billionaires?
If you go to the Detroit Pistons’ website, you can buy season tickets for the 2017-18 season, their first in a brand-new arena named after a pizza company. The move to downtown Detroit, where they haven’t played since 1978, has sparked such interest that they’re ranked second among NBA teams for new...