"10 Things Major League Baseball Won't Tell You"

[iWant27]

Its a pretty interesting article .

http://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/103734/10-Things-Major-League-Baseball-Won't-Tell-You;_ylt=AmIbwdp6rfMZ69RyA3lNBR5O7sMF?mod=weekend


Some of the points made :

A study by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida showed the number of Hispanic players has doubled since 1990, up to 29.4% as of last season. Baseball has become "highly dependent" on Latin America, says Adrian Burgos Jr., author of "Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos and the Color Line."


But where the public gets soaked the most is in the construction of new ballparks. Nineteen new stadiums have been built in the past 15 years, with six more on the way. And with only one exception, those new parks are largely or entirely funded with tax dollars. "They don't have to pay for the stadium, and they don't have to pay property taxes," says Neil deMause, author of "Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money Into Private Profit." "But they get to keep the gate receipts. Does that seem fair?" It's not chump change either; deMause says the new Yankee Stadium will cost $1.3 billion to build (though the team initially told the city it would run $800 million), with roughly half covered by local, state and federal tax money.


And where the Olympics has spent almost $10 million trying to develop a reliable test for human growth hormone, baseball gave only one $500,000 grant, to Don Catlin of the Anti-Doping Research Institute. "It can be done," Catlin says, "but I'm not sure it can be done for the budget we have." (A spokesperson for Major League Baseball declined to comment.)

[roblyo33]

I don't think any of this will be a real shock to people who follow baseball closely. I think if you delve deeply in to any organization or industry, you will find things much more disturbing than these.

[Jace]

I don't think any of this will be a real shock to people who follow baseball closely. I think if you delve deeply in to any organization or industry, you will find things much more disturbing than these.

Yeah. Especially with his public funded stadium point, he has a good argument but he Completely ignores and downplays the fact that new stadiums DO actually correlate with large positive economic growth around them in the area... so omg maybe people do benefit from those tax dollars. Thats the entire reason the government funds the stadiums at all, they don't do it because they are huge Yankee fans. Although in general I'm not a big fan of publicly funded stadiums

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

Yeah. Especially with his public funded stadium point, he has a good argument but he Completely ignores and downplays the fact that new stadiums DO actually correlate with large positive economic growth around them in the area...

Almost every study of new sports stadiums disagrees with this, and finds they don't create economic growth.

[Jace]

Almost every study of new sports stadiums disagrees with this, and finds they don't create economic growth.

Really? I havent read the actual studies, just news articles referring to them. But ok, I guess I should read one

Why do you think governments are so ready to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars to these private entities then? Im curious, I dont see what their incentive would be

[Soriambi]

Really? I havent read the actual studies, just news articles referring to them. But ok, I guess I should read one

Why do you think governments are so ready to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars to these private entities then? Im curious, I dont see what their incentive would be

I'm just speculating, because I have no idea, but it's possible that they do it because people think that it creates economic growth, so it makes them look good. During the next campaign they can say that they were partially responsible for getting that new Stadium, which is creating economic growth, built, and since it's "common knowledge" that stadiums create economic growth, the fact that that might not be true isn't all that important.

[roblyo33]

Really? I havent read the actual studies, just news articles referring to them. But ok, I guess I should read one

Why do you think governments are so ready to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars to these private entities then? Im curious, I dont see what their incentive would be

I think the trend has changed over the last 15 +/- years. I know that Camden Yards and Petco Park have been phenomenal contributors to the revitilization of their neighborhoods.

[roblyo33]

I'm just speculating, because I have no idea, but it's possible that they do it because people think that it creates economic growth, so it makes them look good. During the next campaign they can say that they were partially responsible for getting that new Stadium, which is creating economic growth, built, and since it's "common knowledge" that stadiums create economic growth, the fact that that might not be true isn't all that important.

Are you pushing for a job in the Yankee front office???

[cupcollector99]

Really? I havent read the actual studies, just news articles referring to them. But ok, I guess I should read one

Why do you think governments are so ready to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars to these private entities then? Im curious, I dont see what their incentive would be

Probably because they're government and there is no pressure for results. It's all politics and perception..

Revenue generated is a difficult measure, especially in an area that's suffering from blight. If a stadium is build in the middle of nowhere, it won't help anyone except the team because people will drive in and drive home. If it's in a place like Camden Yards, there was already an existing attraction (inner harbor) the park just gave people an excuse to go there and enjoy the restaurants/malls.
I'm sure if they built the baltimore stadium in a dumpy industrial park section of the city, there would be almost no measurable revenue aside from the stadium concessions.
Look at Shea. It's pretty much located on a laguardia runway and is nestled in between a tennis stadium that's empty 11 months a year and the parkway. There will be no additional revenue for the city, except from the sales tax because there is nothing there for people to enjoy unless you like hanging out on the Whitestone or the Van Wyck collecting hubcaps.

[Jilali]

Really? I havent read the actual studies, just news articles referring to them. But ok, I guess I should read one

Why do you think governments are so ready to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars to these private entities then? Im curious, I dont see what their incentive would be

I think it's because the issue goes beyond economics. Do you want to be the mayor who played hardball with the local ball club over stadium funding, causing the team to pick up and move to another city? Sure, you could make the legit argument that you were being a good steward of your constituents' tax dollars, but all their gonna see is their team playing for another city.

[Mr. Mxylsplk]

Why do you think governments are so ready to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars to these private entities then? Im curious, I dont see what their incentive would be

cupcollector and jilali nailed it. There's no real downside to politicians, because any negative impacts are long term, and go well beyond an individual's time in office, while there's a huge downside of not doing it - every voter knows you're the guy who lost the team.

[Toaderly]

Are you pushing for a job in the Yankee front office???

Soriambi is the Master of Circular Thought Process.

[NelsonMuntz]

All I know is the part of town where the Verizon Center was built in DC used to resemble downtown Baghdad. Nobody went there and if you did you were pretty much taking a gamble on your life. Now it's one of the nicest parts of the city -- a major tourist center with new stores and restaurants opening up every week.

[yankeesAZ]

cupcollector and jilali nailed it. There's no real downside to politicians, because any negative impacts are long term, and go well beyond an individual's time in office, while there's a huge downside of not doing it - every voter knows you're the guy who lost the team.

The Yankees played a role in getting Safeco built. The voters initially rejected funding for a new stadium, but the politicians went behind the voters back and forced it through. A lot of people were upset, but when the M's won a thrilling Game 5 against the Yanks in the ALDS (1995), a lot of those upset people went away. A lot easier for a politician to stand in front and say, "I saved the M's".

Same can't said for the Sonics. They'll be walking within 1-3 years to OK City probably. Public funding was voted down here and there isn't much support to change that.

[RYMASTER or Ryan_Yankees]

Same can't said for the Sonics. They'll be walking within 1-3 years to OK City probably. Public funding was voted down here and there isn't much support to change that.

Wasn't the KeyArena completely rebuilt within the last 15 years? It can't be that bad, can it?

[Caegn]

Why do you think governments are so ready to hand over hundreds of millions of dollars to these private entities then? Im curious, I dont see what their incentive would be

Votes.

Blowing money on a new stadium will piss off a certain number of people. Watching a franchise leave under your watch will piss off a whole lot more. Most people aren't going to hold a grudge on (or even notice) a 1% tax increase or notice a few programs being cut (or not even started) here and there.

Fans however will notice anything negative that happens to their team. And be pretty unforgiving about it. A mayor could bring universal health care to the city along with completely free secondary education and cut the crime rate in half... But if he then runs the Yanks out of town, he's pretty much done in New York.

[yankeesAZ]

Wasn't the KeyArena completely rebuilt within the last 15 years? It can't be that bad, can it?

It was in 1995. I've been to one game there and the arena does seem old as opposed to the Suns arena, which I have been to also.