Field of Schemes

by Neil deMause

  A Moores-controlled company. San Diego Reader, May 6, 1999.

  “How do you think the players.” Chris Jenkins, “Vaughn Traded,” San Diego Union-Tribune, February 3, 1999.

  But in 1987, reportedly in need of quick cash. Jenkins, “Vaughn Traded.”

  “What I say is, the tax is minimal.” Stuart Seers, “Bowlen for Dollars; Denver’s Favorite Canadian Millionaire Wants a Stadium Subsidy. Here’s What He Won’t Tell You about It,” Denver Westword, December 20, 1995.

  With no apparent irony. Julia C. Martinez, “City Reaches Stadium Pact,” Denver Post, August 27, 1998.

  “Someone has to take care of our visiting dignitaries.” Peggy Lowe, “Board Gets Own Luxury Box,” Denver Post, September 5, 1998.

  “Incredibly, while our negotiators.” COST press release, September 4, 1998.

  filing a federal complaint against Jacor Broadcasting. Peggy Lowe, “Stadium Foes Blast Radio Chain,” Denver Post, August 4, 1998.

  Pollsters estimated that the team’s undefeated record. Peggy Lowe and Julia C. Martinez, “Voters Agree to Back New Broncos Stadium,” Denver Post, November 4, 1998.

  Bowlen contributed $1.98 million of his own money. Peggy Lowe, “Bowlen Is Biggest Donor,” Denver Post, December 2, 1998.

  As a result, SkyDome opened with a $300 million mortgage. Tony Van Alphen, “Skydome ‘In Trouble’ NDP Finds,” Toronto Star, October 11, 1990.

  Realizing it had been stuck with a fiscal lemon. Neil deMause, “Can a Ballpark Figure?” This, March/April 1999.

  “riding a bicycle after driving a Mercedes.” Jim Byers and Geoff Baker, “Debate Rages over the Jays’ Move Threat,” Toronto Star, November 1, 1998.

  “the second shot heard round the world.” New York City Independent Budget Office, “Double Play: The Economics and Financing of Stadiums for the Yankees and Mets,” April 1998, 17.

  An investigation by the New Haven Advocate’s Carole Bass revealed. Carole Bass, “Pigskin Pork,” New Haven Advocate, December 4, 1998.

  A Connecticut Office of Fiscal Analysis study reported. Stephen Ohlemacher and Dan Haar, “Taxpayers’ Bill: $257 Million?” Hartford Courant, December 10, 1998.

  “For the first time today.” “Pats’ Price Shrinks,” Associated Press, December 14, 1998.

  “Our goal has always been to play.” Greg Garber, “Kraft’s Decision Was a Business Decision,” Hartford Courant, May 1, 1999.

  “My goal and the Patriots’ goal.” Mike Swift and Greg Garber, “Kraft, Rowland Reassure State Deal Is Still Alive,” Hartford Courant, April 30, 1999.

  “That’s bankable money the team could count on.” Meg Vaillancourt, “Patriots Sack Hartford Stadium Deal,” Boston Globe, May 1, 1999.

  several new economic studies had confirmed the findings. Among those issuing new economic reports: North Carolina State professor Michael Walden (see Michael Walden, “Don’t Play Ball,” Carolina Journal, October/November 1997); University of California–Berkeley graduate student Jack Sylvan (see Charles Burress, “Cities’ Economies Not Helped by Sports Teams, Study Says,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 24, 1998); and the studies contained in Roger G. Noll and Andrew Zimbalist, eds., Sports, Jobs, and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums (Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1997).

  When the city of Phoenix attempted. John Rofé, “D-Backs Equal Greenbacks,” Sports Business Journal, August 24-30, 1998.

  13. The Art of the Steal Revisited

  “We don’t want a new building.” Neil deMause, “Cough It Up, Rich!” Orlando Weekly, May 3, 2001.

  “If I set you up in a business.” deMause, “Cough It Up, Rich!”

  An inattentive Beijing Evening News editor. Henry Chu, “U.S. Satire Tricks Beijing Paper,” Los Angeles Times, June 8, 2002.

  “some small American newspapers frequently fabricate offbeat news.” Daniel Terdiman, “Onion Taken Seriously, Film at 11,” Wired.com, April 14, 2004. Retorted Onion editor Carol Kolb: “That’s what we do at the Onion. We do print lies to make money.”

  Popular opposition to stadium deals has mounted. Neil deMause, “How to Win Friends and Influence Voters,” SportsJones.com, November 15, 2000. By election day in 2000, teams like the Houston Rockets and Arizona Cardinals were routinely spending more than $1.5 million on pro-funding referendum campaigns, outpacing the opposition by a greater than 100-to-1 margin.

  Toronto Blue Jays general manager J. P. Ricciardi declared. Dave Perkins, “Dome Is No Longer Home Sweet Home,” Toronto Star, May 20, 2004.

  “Some of it is just ego.” An edited version of this quote appeared in deMause, “Cough It Up, Rich!”

  “I don’t see anything wrong, from an owner’s perspective.” An edited version of this quote appeared in deMause, “Cough It Up, Rich!”

  “We’re not a threatening type of ownership.” Brian Schmitz, “If Magic Must Move, Devos Will Give Up Game,” Orlando Sentinel, October 12, 2004.

  “We want to stay in Seattle.” Chris McGann, “NBA Chief Backs Sonics’ Arena Plea,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 24, 2006.

  “It’s got me real nervous.” Jeffrey Spivak and Benita Y. Williams, “Chiefs Raise Specter of Moving Team,” Kansas City Star, May 21, 2005.

  “We try to get our ownership not to talk.” Jay Weiner, “Vikings Officials Feel Handicapped by Lease,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, July 20, 2003.

  Carter wrote that although Jones “should pay totally for any stadium.” O. K. Carter, “3 Questions about Cowboys Stadium,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 5, 2004.

  “simply can’t use the old ‘give us a new stadium or we’ll leave.’” O. K. Carter, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 3, 2004.

  a self-proclaimed “close personal friend” of Bud Selig. Sid Hartman, “Catching Up on Some Friends,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, August 8, 2005.

  A review of the past decade’s Hartmanisms. Paul Demko, “The Great Sidoni,” Minneapolis City Pages, May 11, 2005.

  “We were coming close to the end.” Sid Hartman, “Selig: Twins Would Be Gone If Vote Failed,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, May 21, 2006.

  “The economics of baseball are such.” Steven Pearlstein, “Subsidized Team May Throw an Economic Curve,” Washington Post, October 1, 2004. In the baseball postseason that started the week after Pearlstein’s column appeared, not a single one of the eight teams involved (the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins, Oakland A’s, Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants) played in a new taxpayer-funded facility.

  An examination of the link between new baseball stadiums and winning percentage. Neil deMause, “Are New Stadiums a Good Deal?” in Baseball between the Numbers, ed. Jonah Keri (New York: Basic Books, 2006), 221.

  “People say, well, new stadiums are not the panacea.” Marc Topkin, “Selig Visits Trop, Sees Need for New Stadium,” St. Petersburg Times, June 10, 2004.

  “It’s very frustrating to have to go through this.” Carl Steward, “Wolff’s Directive: Get Stadium Constructed for A’s,” Oakland Tribune, November 14, 2003.

  “You have to spend money in order to make money.” Sally Claunch, “Stadium Tax Hike Benefits Debated,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 24, 2004.

  “You hire a firm like ERA and say.” Neil deMause, “Error, Comptroller,” Village Voice, October 20-26, 1999.

  “June 30—that’s our target goal.” Dave Levinthal, “County Lists Hurdles for Stadium Funding,” Dallas Morning News, May 5, 2004.

  “It’s my experience that without a deadline.” “More Ballpark Issues for Marlins,” Associated Press, February 20, 2004.

  “We’re confident that forty-five days from now.” “Architects Say There’s Still Time for 2007 Opener,” Associated Press, March 15, 2004.

  “This is it.” Jayson Stark, ESPN.com, April 26, 2004.

  “The lease is like the Energizer bunny.” Cindi Andrews, “Stadium Clause Tosses Turf Cost to Taxpayers,” Cincinnati Enquirer, February 14, 2004.


  “has informed us that it will not, under any circumstances.” Team Seeks Millions to Stay in Sunshine State,” ESPN.com, January 21, 2005.

  “Let’s say for some reason.” Alex Marvez, “Owner Sees an Eventual Turnaround,” South Florida Sun-Sentinel, March 24, 2005.

  “My wife and I have often talked.” Edward Lotterman, “My Tiff with TIF: It’s Misleading,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, March 18, 2004.

  14. Youppi! Come Home

  “Nobody is better equipped to show people how.” Steve Fainaru, “Selig Plays Hardball on Stadium Deals,” Washington Post, June 27, 2004, A01.

  “it is all but inevitable now.” Jack Todd, “The Grinch Who Stole Baseball,” Montreal Gazette, March 12, 1999.

  Tulane sports-law professor Gary Roberts called the proposal. Neil deMause, “Send Money or We’ll Shoot This Team: Contraction Signals That Baseball’s About to Birth Something Ugly,” Village Voice, November 14–20, 2001.

  “Whatever long-term leases these two have.” deMause, “Send Money or We’ll Shoot.”

  “MLB wants to know.” Mark Asher, “mLB Wants to Hear Plans for Financing,” Washington Post, December 13, 2002.

  And thus began what baseball business writer Doug Pappas. Pappas, a contributing writer to the Baseball Prospectus Web site as well as author of the Business of Baseball Web log, tragically died at the age of forty-two while hiking in a Texas state park in May 2004. Much of this section was compiled with the help of his writings.

  Selig himself had called the nation’s capital. Jayson Stark, “D.C. Baseball: Questions and Answers,” ESPN.com, March 11, 2002.

  $150 million that MLB couldn’t extract in sale price. “If Major League Baseball can ‘shnooker’ a city into paying 100 percent of the costs of building a new stadium,” declared DC councilmember Jack Evans on June 12, 2003, “they can get the maximum amount of money from the potential owner to buy the team.” Evans would go on to become one of the prime supporters of a subsidized stadium to lure the Expos.

  “Ten years from now.” David King, “Plan Would Serve S.A. Expos Slice,” San Antonio Express-News, December 16, 2003.

  a Florida movie mogul named Craig Marquardo. Andy Giegerich, “A Baseball Angel from Way out of Left Field?” Portland Tribune, May 2, 2003.

  “a phrase not likely to inspire confidence.” Doug Pappas, “Officials Crunching Numbers for Proposed Stadium,” www.roadsidephotos.com/baseball, February 4, 2004.

  “We think we’ll have enough support to go to New York.” Dave Fairbank, “Norfolk’s Approach to Expos ‘Unique,’” Hampton Roads Daily Press, April 24, 2004.

  “Some of their accomplishments.” Tom Shean, “Pair Embellished Accomplishments,” Virginian-Pilot, July 29, 2004.

  “Ask me that later this year.” Eric Fisher, “Baseball Says Expos May Not Move in 2004,” Washington Times, January 17, 2003.

  “I know [July 15] was the goal.” Eric Fisher, “Decision on Expos Not Likely,” Washington Times, July 10, 2003.

  “Obviously the options are the various cities.” “Expos Future Still Uncertain: Selig,” CBC Sports, September 11, 2003.

  “I would rather get [the relocation of the Montreal Expos] done.” Mark Asher, “Expos’ Relocation to Be Discussed,” Washington Post, January 14, 2004.

  “It is an objective to have a facility.” Thom Loverro, “NLB Won’t Budge on Stadium,” Washington Times, January 15, 2004.

  “We’ll get it done this year, I promise you.” Hal Bodley, “Expos’ Relocation to Be Discussed,” USA Today, February 5, 2004.

  “by the All-Star Game this year.” Tom Verducci, “Q&A with the Commish,” SI.com, March 9, 2004.

  “I don’t know if ‘embarrassment’ is the right word.” Verducci, “Q&A with the Commish.”

  “That probably wouldn’t build a stadium.” Derek Zumsteg, “Expos Saga Rolls On,” Baseballprospectus.com, March 23, 2004.

  “We need to get this done sooner rather than later.” Eric Fisher, “Decision on Expos Likely Soon,” Washington Times, August 26, 2004.

  “I’m beyond thrilled.” Eric Fisher, “D.C. Gets Expos; 33-Year Wait Over,” Washington Times, September 30, 2004.

  “Major League Baseball didn’t want a team here.” Malcolm Moran, “Baseball No More in Montreal,” USA Today, September 29, 2004.

  In the end, DC taxpayers would be on the hook. For a more in-depth analysis breaking down the costs of the DC stadium deal, see: Neil deMause,“D.C. at the Bat: Who Would Pay for Washington’s New Stadium?” Baseballprospectus.com, September 28, 2004.

  “People were amazed that the District.” Peter Whoriskey, “Lucrative Deal On Stadium Won Baseball Over,” Washington Post, September 29, 2004.

  “helped convince the mayor that his only chance.” Thomas Boswell, “Baseball in D.C.? It’s Almost Too Good to Be True,” Washington Post, October 3, 2004.

  “vast body of economic research on the impact of baseball stadiums.” “An Open Letter to Mayor Anthony Williams and the DC City Council from 90 Economists on the Likely Impact of a Taxpayer-Financed Baseball Stadium in the District of Columbia,” October 21, 2004. The full text of the letter, and signatories, can be found at www.dcfpi.org/?p=50.

  A Washington Post poll a few weeks later. Richard Morin, “Public Financing Opposed, Poll Finds,” Washington Post, November 9, 2004.

  “I’m going to stop this baseball stadium.” S. A. Miller, “Barry to Block Building Pacts,” Washington Times, October 14, 2004.

  “the biggest stick-up since Jesse James.” Eric Fisher, “Baseball Proposal Provokes Anger,” Washington Times, October 28, 2004.

  “We say to this mayor and some members of the city council.” David Nakamura, “Coalition Vows to Fight Stadium,” Washington Post, October 6, 2004.

  “Are you willing to kill baseball?” Lori Montgomery and Yolanda Woodlee, “Foes of New Stadium Want Team to Stay at rfk,” Washington Post, October 2, 2004.

  “Everybody understands that this occurs.” Lori Montgomery and Yolanda Woodlee, “Stadium Backers in Line for Reward,” Washington Post, November 10, 2004.

  “Our chances, if we had a vote today.” David Nakamura, “Stadium Support Seems Solid,” Washington Post, October 20, 2004.

  “At this point, I don’t think that there’s going to be enough to stop it.” Nakamura, “Stadium Support Seems Solid.”

  “How much money does it take.” “Baseball Hearing Ends at 2 a.m.,” Associated Press, October 29, 2004.

  “This is going to blow the thing up.” Michael Wilbon, “D.C. Baseball in Foul Territory,” Washington Post, November 6, 2004.

  Post sports columnist Michael Wilbon called Cropp. Wilbon, “D.C. Baseball in Foul Territory.”

  “My basic belief is that there are too many public dollars.” David Nakamura, “Council Approves Altered Stadium Deal,” Washington Post, December 15, 2004.

  “inconsistent with [the] carefully negotiated agreement.” Thomas Boswell, “Nationals Face an Unhappy New Year,” Washington Post, December 16, 2004.

  “The bits of charred ash and shattered fragments.” Thomas Boswell, “Cropped out of the Picture,” Washington Post, December 15, 2004.

  Tom Knott dubbed Cropp “the Grinch who stole baseball.” Tom Knott, “Remembering the Grinch Who Stole Baseball,” Washington Times, December 15, 2004.

  “Of course it’s not the world’s greatest deal.” Outside the Lines, ESPN, December 16, 2004. The people of Montreal, meanwhile, had lost their team and were set to be left with only an empty stadium for their thirty-five years of fandom. When the province of Quebec proposed to turn over Olympic Stadium to the city of Montreal in 2006, the city wanted no part of it: “Knowing that the government gives grants of $22 million per year to operate the stadium, well, we’re not ready to put that kind of money into it; we just don’t have it,” Montreal executive committee vice-chair Michel Prescott told the CBC.

  A dc government source admitted to the Washington Post. David Nakamura, “True Costs of Stadium Go beyond Budg
et,” Washington Post, December 11, 2005.

  “They’re not going to contract.” Dave Sheinin and Barry Svrluga, “Without Lease, Nats Are on Shaky Ground,” Washington Post, December 20, 2005.

  “give the store away.” Council member Carol Schwartz, “Statement on Ballpark Financing Bill,” November 30, 2004, www.dcwatch.com/govern/sports041130.htm.

  “It was time to declare victory and move on.” Marc Fisher, “Ballpark Deal’s Salvation? Both Sides Chickened Out,” Washington Post, March 7, 2006.

  “trying to be perceived as a team player.” Fisher, “Ballpark Deal’s Salvation?”

  “Two thirds/one third is fine.” Lori Montgomery, “One Guarantee Sparked Larger Baseball Battle,” Washington Post, December 19, 2004.

  “A savvy negotiator creates leverage.” Edward Kiersh, “Playing Hardball: Jerry Reinsdorf Got Michael Jordan Back Playing Basketball, but the Federal Courts Stymied His Assault on Baseball’s Economics,” Cigar Aficionado, Summer 1995.

  “Everyone realizes as soon as the Expos [were] announced.” Barry Jackson, “Marlins to Contend with Free Agency, New Stadium Talks during Offseason,” San Jose Mercury News, October 2, 2004.

  “Even after covering operating losses in Montreal.” “Twins may be a hot commodity: Reggie Jackson’s interest is only the beginning.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, November 9, 2005.

  In a long analysis of the stadium designs. Josh Levin, “Rich Fan, Poor Fan,” Washington City Paper, October 7–13, 2005.

  15. The Perfect Storm

  “There are only two things you do not want.” Bill Shaikin, “Economists: Stadiums Are Bad Investments,” Los Angeles Times, May 11, 2005.

  “We make ‘investments.’ We don’t do subsidies.” T. J. Quinn, “New Ballpark’s a Winner,” Daily News, June 16, 2005.

  the most-expensive minor-league baseball stadiums in history. See Neil deMause, “2 STDMS, OCEAN VU, $110M: Minor-League Ball Comes to Coney and Staten Islands,” Village Voice, June 20-26, 2001. The Coney Island ballpark also claimed a victim by collateral damage, when city demolition crews tore down the Thunderbolt, the seventy-five-year-old wooden rollercoaster featured in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. Although Giuliani’s Department of Buildings had declared it a “dangerous structure,” speculation was that the city decided an ivy-covered, abandoned rollercoaster was not the appropriate backdrop for a new baseball showplace. In a fit of irony, the stadium’s prime luxury box was later dubbed the Thunderbolt Suite.