How’s everyone’s weekend going?
Thanks for spending a portion of your Sunday with the Six.
Let’s get right to it.
SPORTS STADIUMS: DIVIDE AND CONQUER
Today in Las Vegas, where the Super Bowl is being played, temperatures are expected to be in the mid-50s. But if it were hot or cold in Vegas, it wouldn’t matter.
That’s because the stadium has a roof. And Taylor Swift will likely be at the game! (just kidding…couldn’t resist shameless Swift reference)
If history is any guide, climate-controlled environments are important when hosting large, expensive sporting events such as the Super Bowl.
This brings us to Chicago and its NFL team, the Bears.
The franchise wants to leave Soldier Field. It’s been shopping around for new sites. Monday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked at a press conference about the significance of a new stadium:
I think it’s important to the Chicago Bears, their fans, and I also think it’s important to that community
Goodell went on to state the obvious: that a domed stadium is the best option, whether that be in the suburbs or in a parking lot next to Soldier Field. He then made a comment that would make any longtime Chicago sports fan cringe:
I think they’ll be able to develop a proposal good for the fans, but I also think it will be great for Chicago
I don’t fault Goodell for his naive statement. He’s a handsomely paid PR vanguard for The League. But no proposal to build a sports stadium in the city of Chicago will ever be good for the fans. Unless that fan is visiting from out of town.
Lest we forget, the city––and taxpayers––still owe hundreds of millions of dollars from Soldier Field renovations more than two decades ago. Now they want to build a brand new facility in basically the same spot. Who do you think is going to be on the hook for that billion-dollar baby?
When the subject of public financing for sports properties comes up, be wary of any proposal that includes property tax abatements.
That is basically any state or local government agreeing to waive collecting property taxes from the stadium, sometimes for a period of many years, sometimes permanently.
This from the excellent Field of Schemes blog that writes about public subsidies and sports facilities. The author is reviewing a book by Geoffrey Propheter on the subject:
As of 2022, 79% of the 126 stadiums and arenas for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS were fully exempt from real property taxes…the 105 current stadiums and arenas receiving tax breaks would have owed an additional $654.3 million in property taxes in 2022 if they’d paid like normal property owners.
When Propheter extends those exemptions over the life of the buildings’ current leases, he comes up with a total public cost of about $18 billion (using a 3% discount rate for future value; it’s a bit less if you bump that up a couple points) that governments are handing over to sports team owners by letting them off the hook for full property tax payments on their current stadiums and arenas. Of that $18 billion in tax breaks, he calculates that $7.5 billion comes straight out of money for K-12 education, the most common use for property tax revenues.
A conflict over property taxes is what’s likely preventing the Bears from closing a stadium deal with Arlington Heights.
The city of Chicago can’t afford to abate anyone’s property taxes. Certainly not a sports franchise building on a valuable piece of lakefront land.
We can all agree––we’d like to see a domed stadium in Chicagoland. It would be awesome to go to concerts or sporting events in January and November or on rainy April evenings.
But when politicians or league commissioners say how stadium deals are “good” for cities, look at the data. Or your tax bill.
They never are.
Let’s proceed with the Six.
1. Vegas Rising: Sin City Bets Big on Sports Teams.
All eyes on Las Vegas this week. It’s a rare time in the calendar when there isn’t something sports-related going on. The city has gone from sports leagues avoiding it like the plague to a hotbed of local activity, with $7 billion being committed toward flipping Vegas from a shady sports gambling town to a bona fide sports colossus. Vegas now claims the NHL’s Golden Knights, the NFL’s Raiders, the WNBA’s Aces and soon the MLB’s A’s. That’s in part thanks to the legalization of sports gambling, which on one hand meant that Vegas lost a huge share of that market but gained a foothold on sports franchises. An NBA team is likely next on the docket.
We are at a time when site shutdowns and sweeping layoffs are shrinking the journalism biz. Some of those publications are themselves responsible, others at the mercy of private equity ghouls. This is a fantastic piece via Stranger’s Guide about a small newspaper out of Kentucky called The Mountain Eagle. The paper’s enduring principles—“tell the news, inform the community, play it straight”—reminds us of the still-essential pursuit of “truth-telling, no matter the cost” and damn the torpedoes. Good to know there remains a publication that flies the flag for high quality local journalism.
3. Joe Biden Is Currently Losing The Election.
Every week we creep closer to general election season. Any remote chance of competition in the GOP primary ended this past week. It looks like it’s going to be two old white dudes duking it out for the presidency come November. As for the incumbent? Typically, they are in the driver’s seat, but not in 2024. Even left-leaning writers are admitting this looming reality, as Matt Yglesias of the Slow Boring newsletter opines.
4. The New Vocabulary Of Cocktails.
An insider’s lexicon for the modern drinker. Fruit bat: a guest who eats the fruit pieces intended for garnishing. Bartender’s handshake: a shot ordered to identify a fellow bartender. Club sandwich: combination of a beer and a shot. Dirty dump: pouring a drink from the cocktail shaker without straining. Water bombs: chugging a small glass of water to stay hydrated during a shift. Next time I saddle up to a local tavern I’ll have to inquire if ingredients for the “Adios MFer” is still a finger of 151 with tabasco sauce as it was back in the day.
5. Michael Jordan Sneakers Fetch A Record $8 Mil.
We’ve surpassed a quarter century since Michael Jordan retired from the Bulls for good (1998). He’s largely left the public spotlight since selling the Charlotte Hornets and the broadcast of “The Last Dance” documentary. But the Currency of Jordan keeps on rolling. The latest: a pair of sneakers worn by MJ in the final games of each of the Bulls six championships sold at auction for $8M. A longtime team executive had the foresight to ask for and save the sneakers. Winning time.
6. One Last Inspirational Speech From Coach Taylor.
We’re hours away from the Super Bowl broadcast, but United Airlines already has my vote for best commercial. Fans of “Friday Night Lights” will get chills. Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.
Thanks for reading everybody and have a great rest of your weekend.
Have a suggestion for The Sunday Six? Send email to jonjkerr@gmail.com.