Posted on 12/16/2004 1:51:17 PM PST by B Knotts
Hours after the D.C. Council drastically altered Washington's stadium financing plan, a move that called for half of the project to be paid for with private funds, Major League Baseball on Wednesday called the proposed new deal "wholly unacceptable."
The Montreal Expos might not have a new home after all.
Bob DuPuy, chief operating officer of Major League Baseball, issued a statement Wednesday calling for the halt of business and promotional activities by the team that was to be called the Washington Nationals in 2005.
That about-face caused some stirring in Portland, where the major league effort was less than a week away from being wrapped up and transferred to the incoming mayoral administration.
"It's obviously a dramatic shift," said David Kahn, leader of the Oregon Stadium Campaign. "We'll continue to monitor it closely."
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
Good. Its about time somebody told the MLB and the owners to get lost. You want a brand new stadium? Help build it.
Ya know, there are about two dozen ball parks In the Pheonix area (spring training parks) and also in FloridA that could be used.
Lots of baseball fans in Arizona could use a guest team for a year or two, and they have facilities that sit empty most of the summer. Some are owned by the Counties, and most will only seat a small crowd, (About the same as the Expos are used to).
I wonder who was going to keep all the income from renting out the sky boxes under the original sweetheart deal.
One of the few good things our local governments did in So. California was to tell two football teams to take a hike after they issued "build us a new stadium or else we're moving..." ultimatums.
Las Vegas..
The Libertarian in me says, "So What?" I don't believe that cities should be spending tax dollars on a playpen for owners and players to play kids games for millions and millions of dollars.
That said, my real question is: Would any of you out there enter in a a contract with Washington D.C.?
Excellent point.
Season tickets are sold out and they have a 3 year lease at RFK. Something will get worked out.
The Brooklyn Cyclones, who play in Coney Island, routinely outdrew the Expos...
And that really settled the issue once and for all, didn't it? Someday LA will get an NFL team back at about three times the cost of keeping the ones it had. Meanwhle, they will have gone over a decade without a team. Brilliant.
Heck...they ought to build them themselves. The San Francisco Giants did just that.
The era of government-funded stadiums should have long ago ended.
http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sf/ballpark/sf_ballpark_ballpark.jsp
The first privately financed ballpark in Major League Baseball since Dodger Stadium (1962), the Giants' new home features an inspiring nine-foot statue of America's greatest living ballplayer, Willie Mays, at the public entrance; Portuguese water dogs who fetch home runs that splash into McCovey Cove (named after another Hall of Fame Willie); an 80-foot Coca-Cola bottle with playground slides and miniature SBC Park behind left field that has become a magnet for kids of all of ages; and mass public transit that rivals any sports complex in the world.
Some guy is selling-off Nationals' stuff (caps, teeshirts, etc.), as apparently the MLB shop has stopped offering it for sale. A $25 Nationals New Era cap is going for $71.00.
Heh. You gotta love entrepreneurship.
Aren't the Giants paying something like $20 million a year as debt-service for their ballpark?
Yeah, now I'm ticked that I didn't buy one of the red "W" caps a month ago.
Wrong. If the NFL wants to play in LA, they can PAY to do so.
The Dodgers built and paid for their own stadium, and own it free and clear. The Staples Center, where the Lakers, Clippers and Kings play was 100% privately financed.
Actually more like three decades. Los Angeles lost the Rams to Anaheim in 1980. I know that is still the "greater LA Market". But when one considers how the LA coliseum commission runs things, anyone would be a fool to sign up with them. Following is a list of teams who have fled the clutches of the worse run stadium organization in world history:
LA Kings
LA Lakers
UCLA
LA Dodgers
LA Rams
USC (Basketball)
LA Raiders
The LA Coliseum commission will also do all it can to prevent an NFL Team from coming into the area, if it is not at the Coliseum
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