Back in June, WFAA-TV took a close look at the Texas Rangers’ proposal to build a new stadium in Arlington, which the city and team insist would be built with a 50-50 split of private and public money. WFAA-TV discovered an unprecedented clause in the proposal that proved the 50-50 promise to be horseshit, and now further investigating has revealed that the stadium deal is somehow even worse for taxpayers than previously thought.
The clause WFAA-TV discovered back in June had to do with admissions and parking taxes, a source of revenue that most stadium deals direct to the city in order to help defray its costs. The Rangers’ deal has all of that money going to the team, though, thus leaving the city to miss out on an estimated $300 million that could have been used to help pay its $500 million share of construction costs.
WFAA-TV has also discovered that the team will retain the naming rights to the stadium despite the fact that the city would technically own it. Those naming rights are worth an estimated $12 million annually. The team would also be raking in money from personal seat licenses, which carry an estimated value of $75 million over the course of the 30-year lease.
Add all that up with the interest the city will accrue by taking out bonds to pay its share, and you get a very bleak picture:
All told, the WFAA-TV projected price tag – including construction costs, interest on loans, lost revenue and giveaways – for Arlington totals $1.675 billion over the next three decades.
Arlington residents will vote on whether to approve the stadium deal on Nov. 8. If you have friends that live there, please do what you can to convince them that the rich fucks who own the Rangers don’t need a $1.675 billion handout.
[WFAA-TV]