Baseball in Washington D.C? Not so fast...

[Mojambo]

http://tinyurl.com/5qe2f

Not looking too good.

[SaveElmer]

1. Looks Pretty Dead

Unfortunately...but when you are dealing with the DC Government anything can happen!

They are now three time losers in the baseball department...but at least we won't have to hear anymore whining about there not being baseball in DC...

Too bad...I was looking forward to seeing some national league baseball this year!

[Mojambo]

2. What happens to the Expos now?

Do they look back into Portland or maybe Las Vegas in a few years?

That franchise is just a mess.

[SaveElmer]

3. Well they will be in DC for one year at least

Then I imagine Baseball will either look for a new city (Vegas is the best bet), or, and nobody really talks about this, but after the 2006 season basebal can contract them. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they just ran out the string in DC and then eliminated the team!

[Mojambo]

4. How does contraction work?

Do the players on the team all become free agents or is there some kind of draft? I'd assume the former, but I'm not sure.

[peacebird]

5. just tell me that virginia isn't going to step up

and have our taxpayers foot the bill to bring the expos here....

[SaveElmer]

8. See post below

That is not how it works!

[mac56]

11. Do you really think Vegas is the best bet?

No stadium, and a little bit of a gambling problem. Sports leagues have treated Vegas like a red-headed stepchild.

Virginia, Portland, Indianapolis?

[pa28]

9. Portland almost had it.

Maybe they'll get another bid together. It would be nice to have a local team worse than the Mariners.

[tx_dem41]

6. Why should an impoverished DC govt. commit to paying

taxpayer money to a private individual/group?

[SaveElmer]

7. That's not what is happening

This is often the problem with selling these deals. Most people think that the government is cutting a check and giving it to baseball owners. This is not the case.

No general revenue money is involved with this. The DC Government raises money by issuing Bonds. They are committed to paying a yearly interest payment on these bonds. In order to do this DC will be taxing businesses which have revenue of 6 mil or more, taxing tickets, player salaries, and stadium merchandise. Also the team pays rent to play in the stadium.

The salient points here are that the majority of these funds are only available because the team is there. The tax on business has largely been supported in the business community because they expect a return from the team being there. Also, 75% of the fans coming to see the team will be from Virginia and Maryland. They will be paying taxes on the tickets and merchandise they buy, providing DC with tax revenue they would not have had before.

Building a stadium is an investment in the business climate of the city, just like when governemnts give tax incentives for businesses that relocate, or in the building of convention centers and town centers. No different. In DC's case this could completely revitilize a dead area of town.

The only risk to the city are from construction delays and cost overruns which I believe baseball addressed already.

This is just political grandstanding by Linda Cropp who wants to be mayor.

[tx_dem41]

10. Funny, they said the same thing about the American Airlines Center...

here in Dallas. So far, 6 years later...none of the promised development has come through, save a restaurant or two.

I appreciate the time you took with your response. Sorry for the short anecdotal retort in reply.

[Sorwen]

12. I love baseball, but

baseball really pisses me off sometimes. MLB needs to realize that they shouldn't keep expecting local governments to fund new stadiums. I think they should be very happy to get half of it funded by the public. I'm generally a proponent of new stadiums (I've been waiting for one in Minnesota for a long time) and I realize that there are creative ways to finance stadiums without using general taxpayer money. I support these proposals, but private financing also needs to be part of the equation.

I think Cropp made the right move, and I hope MLB does not find any other city that will finance 100% a new stadium. Let them play at RFK or find private financing for half of the stadium. I love these new stadiums and I'm personally willing to pay my share, but I'm so tired of Bud Selig and the owners expecting money from the local governments and threatening to move the team if they don't get it.