New Sports Venues and the "Government Cookie Jar"

Uproar over the Yankees' wish for another $350 million in tax-free bonds from the city--the Yankees already have over $900 million in tax-free bonds, but needs the city to push the IRS to allow even more tax-free funding, has resulted in some great quotes:

Regarding how sports teams like the Yankees, Mets, and Nets get hundreds of millions in tax-free financing from the state and city governments, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky said, "These decisions are being made in secret in these Soviet-style meetings and it is outrageous."
Bettina Damiani, a project director for Good Jobs New York, asked the Sun, "Doesn't the mayor have better things to do than be asking Washington for money to help the Yankees?"
Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, per Metro, said, "These sports teams are private companies that appear addicted to keeping their hands in the government cookie jar."
Another from Brodsky: "What's at stake here is a much bigger issue than whether you like or dislike the Yankee Stadium deal. Stadiums soaking a lot of the tax-exempt financing, and we can't fund the capital plan of the MTA and we're short capital money on schools and hospitals."

The NY Times looks at how NYC's two baseball teams and the Nets have benefited from tax-free bonds and how the state and city are lobbying DC to make sure those projects do get benefits--for instance, the Yankees have received $900+ million in tax-free bonds, $200 million in subsidies, and new parking garages, parkland and more built by the city for $300+ million.

And the Village Voice's Neil deMause has a good explanation of the tax-free bond situation and what it means to the teams, the city & state, and IRS. deMause did co-write, Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money into Private Profit.
Photograph of the new Yankee Stadium's exterior by nine6sevenfour on Flickr

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By Jen Chung in News on June 13, 2008 11:34 AM

Comments [rss]

sonyactivision

These teams have become nothing but parasites.

...and that new stadium looks like shit.

takethecanoli

f' the franchises.

Tim N.

zpk... I'm a lifelong Yankee fan, I've been to a few games this year to say goodbye to the old place, and I've eyeballed the new park. And, try as I might, I just can't warm up to the place. I know it's not done, but still... just leaves me cold, like a bank.

EastRiver

This is part of the reason why there's no NFL team in Los Angeles, as the lack of a team in a huge metro area that should have one

The other reason of course is that people in LA didn't give a damn about either the Rams or Raiders. Games never sold out and many football fans in the region actually cheered the departure of both teams because it meant instead of the local games being blacked out they got to see games from other parts of the country.

moonbeam

If a sports team can't bring in enough money to keep the team afloat, let them fail. It's absolutely ridiculous to use tax money for something like this.

Peter

Sports arena funding is the sort of issue that can only be addressed on the national level. Cities which host teams in major sports find it very difficult to resist team owners' demands for public arena funding, because the owners merely threaten to go elsewhere if they don't get the money. Seattle is about to lose the Sonics to Oklahoma City for just this reason. This is part of the reason why there's no NFL team in Los Angeles, as the lack of a team in a huge metro area that should have one gives team owners a very powerful bargaining chip.

Now, if Congress passed a law absolutely banning any public support for professional sports facilities, team owners would be unable to threaten host cities, and taxpayers wouldn't be footing the bills.

jibbly

zpk - I actually thought it WAS a picture of a bank for a second.

burgeon

I say, force them to sell naming rights. I picture "Summer's Eve Stadium"

Flynncity

Glad to see there's at least a little outrage corporations using our money for their own personal profit.

JMH

Brodsky is a huge fan of closed-door Soviet-style meetings unless he's not invited, in which case he loves the opportunity to grandstand about them.