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Field of Schemes

@fieldofschemes.bsky.social

3.2K followers 17 following 920 posts

Sports stadium and arena news by Neil deMause (@neildemause.bsky.social), co-author of the book Field of Schemes.

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 10h

The new Rays owners want a lot of land, and a lot of money for building stuff on it, and are looking for a government entity willing to hand it over to them — and in time to open a stadium by spring 2029. "Audacious" seems like a good word for that, yes.

New Rays owners vow to get taxpayer-subsidized stadium district by 2029

New Tampa Bay Rays owners Patrick Zalupski, Ken Babby, and Bill Cosgrove held their first press conference yesterday since buying the team, and a lot of it was focused on plans for a new stadium in th...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 1d

Clark Hunt has offers of $750m in hand from KS and MO, but continues to say he needs county subsidies as well, which does make one wonder whether the Chiefs really need a new stadium if it'd only be profitable if taxpayers cover more than $1B of the cost.

Chiefs owner still mulling all stadium options, seeking to increase $750m public price tag

Kansas City Chiefs executives have been pretty quiet about their stadium plans since June, when they asked for and got a one-year extension on Kansas's offer of sales tax subsidies that could be worth...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 2d

Bears Stadium Financing Plan Predictable, Hackneyed

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 2d

The Stars are moving to Plano, unless they're moving to Arlington or The Colony or Fort Worth or building an arena in Dallas or staying in their old Dallas arena. Clearly owner Tom Gaglardi is entering the kicking-tires-to-gin-up-a-bidding-war phase.

Dallas Stars owners start shopping for new arena, that’s officially everybody now

It's rare for a major pro sports team to have no entries in the Field of Schemes "posts by topic" list, given that pretty much every team owner out there has at least hinted at demanding some kind of ...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 2d

Bears execs intend to ask for well over $1B in publicly provided stuff, for a project that the team's own extremely rosy projections expect to bring in $69m/year in new tax revenues, a best-case scenario that would still leave the public losing money.

Bears execs now likely demanding $1B+ from Arlington Heights for stadium project, fine print reveals

Snuck into one of last week's economic impact reports for a proposed Chicago Bears stadium in Arlington Heights was an eye-popping number: "To jumpstart the full redevelopment potential of the 326-acr...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 3d

I believe this logical fallacy is technically known as the Big Ball of Stupid.

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 5d

A Metro expansion could cost "hundreds of millions of dollars" on top of the $7B in city cash and free rent Commanders owner Josh Harris is already getting, says councilmember Charles Allen, but "we cannot afford not to do it."

Friday roundup: D.C.NFL stadium comes with nine-figure Metro cost, Mets owner likely to win casino on city parking lots

I had a nice talk yesterday with Chris Francis of Straight Arrow News (owned by the union-busting Joe Ricketts, sigh) about ballooning hidden public costs of sports stadiums and arenas, and the result...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 6d

KSHB reports White’s successor "faces a tight deadline" on stadiums, but at last word the Chiefs and Royals owners were still seeking a county to offer cash on top of the $700m+ being offered by MO and KS, maybe they're the ones facing a tight deadline?

Frank White recall leaves Royals/Chiefs stadiums even more up in air than they already were

Frank White, the former Kansas City Royals second baseman who has been Jackson County executive since 2016, was overwhelmingly recalled by voters on Tuesday, largely because of <strike>his sub-.300 ca...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 7d

Economist J.C. Bradbury called the Bears impact reports "an incomprehensible mess of motivated nonsense." If it's nonsense that could land them $1B+ in infrastructure and tax breaks, though, team owners will no doubt consider it consulting fees well spent.

Bears stadium economic impact reports reveal that economic impact reports aren’t worth much

Arlington Heights yesterday released not one but two economic impact reports on the village's proposed Chicago Bears stadium: One commissioned by the team and carried out by consultants HR&A, and one ...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 8d

You'll probably want to avert your eyes from this one, too: www.crainsnewyork.com/sports-recre...

City’s running boom is adding almost $1B to local economy

The city’s running boom generated an estimated $934 million for the local economy in the fiscal year through March, according to New York Road Runners.

www.crainsnewyork.com

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 8d

Sorry, Bexar County voters, looks like you're on your own for understanding the consequences of the upcoming Spurs arena tax subsidy vote better than your elected officials do — the good news is, that's a pretty low bar.

Top county official says giving Spurs owner $150m for arena would have “zero impact” on locals, needs to go back to tax school

With a public referendum on around $150 million worth of county funding for a San Antonio Spurs arena up for a vote five weeks from today, KSAT-TV had Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, the county's top ...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 8d

Cool.

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 9d

IAVM is a fine resource, but they have a vested interest in keeping themselves funded. Academic researchers don’t typically join industry groups for what they study - did you click through to read the actual interview?

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 9d

Sanders has studied convention centers for 30 years, wrote a book about them, and is retired from UT San Antonio. IAVM is for people who work for arenas/convention centers — criticizing him for not being a member is like accusing Greta Thunberg of not belonging to the American Petroleum Institute.

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 9d

Shock and awe!

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 9d

Expiring leases, it turns out, are only a ticking clock for public officials; for team owners, they can be moved at will. (The Sabres lease, like many sports leases, gave the Pegulas an option to extend under the existing terms, which include free rent.)

Sabres extend lease five years in hopes Buffalo’s wallet will re-open by then

Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula had an expiring arena lease and no way to use it to extract arena upgrades from Erie County, which is too busy with helping build a new stadium for the Pegul...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 9d

Bally's chair Soo Kim insists his casino will be mostly other places to spend money, as if people go to Vegas to shop; the resort is to be built in stages, so as with the A's stadium it's anyone's guess when the pictures will become reality, if ever.

A’s Vegas armadillo gets vaporcompany as Bally’s floats not-just-a-casino images

The under-at-least-preliminary-construction Las Vegas A's stadium got some vaportecture neighbors this weekend, as Bally's released images of the casino/hotel/shopping/dining/etc. complex it plans to ...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 12d

"Being a season ticket holder for the Athletics is embarrassing to the point that I regret telling my friends or coworkers," a Sacramento season ticket holder wrote to the A's in May. By way of apology, they gave him a bag of old giveaways he already had.

Friday roundup: Fire stadium wins Chicago approval, A’s set MLB record for alienating all their new fans already

With all the ginormous stadium and arena wrassles like the Washington Commanders stadium and the San Antonio Spurs arena project and the never-ending Tampa Bay Rays saga, it's sometimes easy to forget...

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Geoffrey Propheter @gpropheter.bsky.social · 14d

A San Antonio journalist told me today that the mayor has started receiving police protection because of threats against her and her family for her attempts to slow the project and allow for more policy evaluation. Anyone know if the Spurs or NBA have issued a statement on this?

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 14d

Even as Los Angeles commits to $193m a year in debt service for a convention center expansion, other cities' experience shows that the likelihood of any significant increase in LA’s convention business is effectively nil.

L.A. approves $2.6B convention center expansion, even as convention demand shrivels

There are boondoggles, there are big boondoggles, and then there are public development disasters. Los Angeles has just embarked on a disaster. Last week, the Los Angeles city council approved an expa...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 15d

Harris doesn't know either. D.C. is giving him 90 years of control over the RFK land — if someone offered you 90 years of free rent on a house, you wouldn't know how much that would be worth either without a time machine that can read Zillow from the 22nd century.

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 15d

There's no way to know if it's $7B or $25B in cost, is the point: D.C. is giving away an asset (land) that it's impossible to know the value of for the next 90 years, which is how long Josh Harris will have control over it.

Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 15d

Zalupski is in the same boat as Sternberg was: He has a stadium to play in, though no one loves it, and a new stadium would come with most of the same problems as the old one unless someone can figure out how to build one in the exact middle of the bay.

Zalupski completes Rays purchase, now has to figure out which city to shake down for stadium money

The sale of the Tampa Bay Rays to Patrick Zalupski and friends for $1.7 billion is now official, and the Tampa Bay Times is on it! Here's what their three staff writers on the story are reporting: Wit...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 16d

The total public cost of the Commanders stadium will likely be $7B-$25B, setting a new sports subsidy standard that will doubtless be used as a benchmark by other team owners, meaning it'll cost lots of other cities more billions of dollars in the future.

How does the Commanders stadium deal suck? Let Defector count the ways

Defector ran a long piece yesterday on why the Washington Commanders stadium deal sucks, and no, I'm not only posting about it because they called me "the great Neil deMause," a title by which I expec...

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Field of Schemes @fieldofschemes.bsky.social · 19d

A consultant okayed the Browns stadium's proximity to flight paths, leaving it facing only: suits over the Modell Law and use of unclaimed property funds and whether move talks violated the team's lease, plus $600m in unfinalized city and county spending.

Friday roundup: Browns stadium gets airport okay, San Antonio mayor seeks cut of Spurs’ arena revenues

First things first: The Ohio Department of Transportation changed course yesterday and granted a building permit to the Cleveland Browns' proposed stadium in Brook Park, one month after declaring it w...

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