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Obama and NFL Stadium Financing

The proposal isn't that public money can't be used for building the stadiums, it's that the cities and states have to pay tax on the full cost of the interest of the loans. Seems like that part is getting lost but maybe I'm reading things wrong...

Given that, I don't see that much will change, expect maybe the loans go from $300m to $250m to account for having to pay taxes. So maybe you get 3 jumbo-trons instead of 4.
 
New Falcons stadium will be located in downtown ATL and owned by the state. The cost continues to rise (Falcons are responsible for all overruns but is currently around $1.2B I believe). The state is kicking in 200M in bonds, which bonds will be repaid by a hike in the hotel tax, which will be paid by mostly plebs from CLT and like townships who come to ATL to see MLB, a real NBA team, Final Fours, and eat meals at real restos.

Once built, the Falcons will pay the city $2.5MM a year for 10-12 days of use.

The GWCCA (Georgia World Congress Center Authority, the state entity that controls the GWCC, the GADome and will control the new stadium), will also be able to rent out the new dome for Final Fours, CFB Championship Games, a Superbowl, the new ATL MLS team, concerts, and all sorts of other high revenue generating events.

Falcons games and the above will also provide hundreds of part time jobs on event days, as well as collateral economic impact.

I am not sure of any other venture in which the city could make a $200M short term loan, and reap the same economic benefits, but I am sure the experts here will tell us otherwise.
 
TheTwinAndreBen said:
New Falcons stadium will be located in downtown ATL and owned by the state. The cost continues to rise (Falcons are responsible for all overruns but is currently around $1.2B I believe). The state is kicking in 200M in bonds, which bonds will be repaid by a hike in the hotel tax, which will be paid by mostly plebs from CLT and like townships who come to ATL to see MLB, a real NBA team, Final Fours, and eat meals at real restos.

Once built, the Falcons will pay the city $2.5MM a year for 10-12 days of use.

The GWCCA (Georgia World Congress Center Authority, the state entity that controls the GWCC, the GADome and will control the new stadium), will also be able to rent out the new dome for Final Fours, CFB Championship Games, a Superbowl, the new ATL MLS team, concerts, and all sorts of other high revenue generating events.

Falcons games and the above will also provide hundreds of part time jobs on event days, as well as collateral economic impact.

I am not sure of any other venture in which the city could make a $200M short term loan, and reap the same economic benefits, but I am sure the experts here will tell us otherwise.
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I've watched this go from parking lot, to giant pit in the ground, to current:

t68gtz.jpg


I'm not generally a big fan of public financing of stadiums, but since this one is being paid for with hotel/motel tax, I actually think it is going to be a good deal for the city in decline.
 
TheTwinAndreBen said:
New Falcons stadium will be located in downtown ATL and owned by the state. The cost continues to rise (Falcons are responsible for all overruns but is currently around $1.2B I believe). The state is kicking in 200M in bonds, which bonds will be repaid by a hike in the hotel tax, which will be paid by mostly plebs from CLT and like townships who come to ATL to see MLB, a real NBA team, Final Fours, and eat meals at real restos.

Once built, the Falcons will pay the city $2.5MM a year for 10-12 days of use.

The GWCCA (Georgia World Congress Center Authority, the state entity that controls the GWCC, the GADome and will control the new stadium), will also be able to rent out the new dome for Final Fours, CFB Championship Games, a Superbowl, the new ATL MLS team, concerts, and all sorts of other high revenue generating events.

Falcons games and the above will also provide hundreds of part time jobs on event days, as well as collateral economic impact.

I am not sure of any other venture in which the city could make a $200M short term loan, and reap the same economic benefits, but I am sure the experts here will tell us otherwise.
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no price too high to slow down that decline
 
I don't believe the hotel tax is rising. It's the same tax that has been in place for a long time that is meant to help fund tourist attractions downtown.
 
On a side note, I met with a nonprofit on Thursday that recruits and trains workers from the westside of Atlanta for construction jobs. About half of the graduates are working at the new Falcons stadium while others are going to work on different projects such as the new State Farm project at Perimeter and the Coke HQ rehab. Check them out. Westside Works
 
No one can deny that the Braves stadium in Cobb county is the worst case scenario. So many back room deals where the public had no input. All the models show what a horrific deal it is for Cobb County.
 
Local scuttlebutt has it that Danny boy is making preliminary inquiries about bringing the Washington football team actually back into DC from the 'burbs. Polling about what features, amenities etc. that the season ticket holders would like to see in a new stadium, and where it should be. One possible site is the current location of RFK stadium. Difficult to do because the land is owned by the federal government, but not impossible - just more complex of a deal. A number of newer stadiums for football and baseball have been built in downtown areas, not out in the burbs. The Atlanta situation is something of an outlier in that regard.
 
buckets said:
Great idea imo and I'm no hippy liberal
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I can't stand pro sports teams holding cities hostage for new stadiums financed at taxpayers' expense. Wow, I think I finally found common ground with Obama.
 
DeacKillsaDevil said:
On a side note, I met with a nonprofit on Thursday that recruits and trains workers from the westside of Atlanta for construction jobs. About half of the graduates are working at the new Falcons stadium while others are going to work on different projects such as the new State Farm project at Perimeter and the Coke HQ rehab. Check them out. Westside Works
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Stop trying to kill trap music.
 
Deaconblue said:
Local scuttlebutt has it that Danny boy is making preliminary inquiries about bringing the Washington football team actually back into DC from the 'burbs. Polling about what features, amenities etc. that the season ticket holders would like to see in a new stadium, and where it should be. One possible site is the current location of RFK stadium. Difficult to do because the land is owned by the federal government, but not impossible - just more complex of a deal. A number of newer stadiums for football and baseball have been built in downtown areas, not out in the burbs. The Atlanta situation is something of an outlier in that regard.
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And difficult because DC might make them change the name...
 
SmooveDeac said:
And difficult because DC might make them change the name...
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wasn't Fedex built in early - mid 1990s? And I thought DC passed resolution that Redskins couldn't be used in city limits.
 
Finished in 1997, then Dan renamed it.
 
Who buys these bonds? Insurance companies? Pension Funds? They need cash flow and these bonds provide that. If elected officials want to run on having a stadium built for a sports team, let them hear from the voters. Art Modell left Cleveland after being promised a new stadium and having the Indians get one first. 4 years later a new Browns team was in a new lake front stadium. The people of Cleveland paid a "sin" tax to finance it, and they got their football team.
 
Vox on the plan to keep the Rams.
http://www.vox.com/2015/1/12/7525143/rams-stadium

Today, Missouri governor Jay Nixon is announcing a deal with a rail agency and utility company to move train tracks to accommodate the new stadium. If it's built, it will cost between $860 and $985 million, with half the money coming from public funds.

...

The project would mean paying a huge subsidy to a very profitable business that provides minimal benefits to the public — at the same time the city continues to pay off the debt from building the old Rams stadium, completed in 1995. It would take away millions away from public programs, and give them to a man worth an estimated $5.8 billion. Last, it would devour a large parcel of vacant land downtown, right on the Mississippi waterfront, to be used just ten times per year.

...

Despite the claims of stadium boosters, independent analyses almost invariably find that the actual economic impacts are smaller than the public money spent for the stadiums. The only real exception is Los Angeles' Staples Center, which generates a fair amount of money for nearby businesses — because it's used about 250 days per year (it's home to two NBA teams, an NHL team, and a WNBA team). Despite the NFL's popularity, NFL stadiums are a far worse deal than other sports', because they're larger (taking up more real estate) and because NFL teams only play ten home games per year.

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There are no economic benefits that compare with the hundreds of millions of public dollars spent on pro teams. The only plausible explanation for them that I can think of is the illusion of relevance.
A St. Louis with an NFL team, the thinking goes, is a nationally-relevant city. For the politicians who run St. Louis, that's an appealing idea, and one that leads them to make financially irresponsible decisions to keep the team there.
 
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