I've been corresponding with an internet friend about how things were looking at Hayward Field, how the new construction seemed to be coming along down in Eugene, Oregon. He recently drove past the construction site and said that it seemed a long way from being done. Admittedly he is not a civil engineer nor a construction expert, but he was certainly wondering how Hayward might be ready for the Prefontaine Classic to be run this coming May. Of course they have a good 18 months to be ready for the 2021 World Championships. Since we are not experts, we'll give the builders and financers the benefit of the doubt---FOR NOW!
It just got me remembering how many times we've seen professional sports teams literally hold up a community with threats of moving if the community didn't give a huge tax break or pay for a new stadium to get a pro team to come to town. The Mike Brown family held up the gullible folks of Hamilton County Ohio to keep the Cincinnati Bengals in place and give the Brown Family a new Paul Brown Stadium. Plenty of other communities had the same experience. First the dream merchants come up with some drawings of a modern stadium, with private boxes that rival a honeymoon suite at the Waldorf Astoria. They tell the public that it will all be financed by private investment, maybe and perhaps a wee bit of a tax break. Some local corporation or Healthcare Network will throw in a few dollars to have their name on the wall. Then half way through construction, the nabobs and glad handers start whining about unexpected rises in cost to construct and we're gonna need a bailout to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars to complete the project and could we just float a little tax levy to cover the shortfall? Hell we can cut back on school lunches or housing for the elderly, we're gonna have our "Beer and Circus" and eight Sundays every fall we'll have a game and maybe even a winner and a Super Bowl trophy. And the voters go crazy and vote to give up some valuable public service in order to have a few overpaid heroes do battle for them on the weekend. In 1973 in Montreal, Mayor Jean Darpeau declared that it would be easier for a man to give birth than it would be to lose money on the 1976 Olympics. That stadium today is basically a seldom used shell that is falling apart. Hell, they actually glued the sections together. Some architect from France who had never experienced a Canadian winter decided that glue would work better than bolts and welded seams. The 1976 Olympics lost a ton of money. The Montreal Expos are now playing in Washington D.C. So it does not surprise me one iota when a story like the following comes out in the Oregonian today. Here it is. My comments regarding certain paragraphs are in bold type. George
As any track and field athlete knows, progress comes in fits and starts and a big breakthrough can come at any time. This is true.
Less than two years before the scheduled opening of the 2021 World Athletics Championships in Eugene, organizers and track fans are waiting for a breakthrough from Gov. Kate Brown. Organizers say they need $40 million from the state. Brown seems stuck at about $20 million. Hey what do they need $40 million for now? Didn't they have an agreement before they tore the place down and started construction on a new stadium? Or did they have to spread a lot of untruths to get the project going? Forty Million is seriously off the estimate I assume.
Since she attended the 2019 World Champions in Doha in September, Brown has been more vocal in her support. She’s promised to produce the full $40 million requested by the event’s organizers, said Paul Weinhold, executive director of the University of Oregon Foundation and chair of Oregon 21, the Eugene-based group organizing the event.
Okay, so it's the U of O Foundation behind all of this. And what pray tell did Gov. Kate Brown get in Doha to now aspire to go for another $40 million at the risk of her political career?
Newly obtained documents show just how difficult and delicate a task Brown faces: Skeptical lawmakers, a demanding international governing body and a local organizing committee desperately reliant on the state. The hoped-for $40 million represents nearly half of the event’s total expected revenue.
Wait, they expect $80 million in sales and they are currently $40 million short to even have the place ready? Sounds like we're cutting things pretty thin here. And does that mean we won't make a profit if that happens? Ans. No, No, George, It simply means that we need all the local yokels, even if they don't follow the sport to now pick up the tab. The guy buying beer and cigarettes in Bend, OR is going to help finance the Championships. And when you buy anything else in the state, you're going to get hit. Oregonians aren't used to sales taxes on anything. I live in British Columbia and five years ago I went to see the Pre and bought 15 gallons of paint to paint my house back home. Because there was no sales tax on that paint, I saved enough money to pay my trip down including gas, hotel and food for three days. So when it comes to asking Ducks to pay tax on something many of them will never see, I think there is going to be a little bit of political push back. But I could be wrong. I thought Saddam had weapons of mass destruction.
“I am proud to have this historic event in Oregon and look forward to continuing our work together,” Brown said in an April 25 letter to Jon Ridgeon, the international federation’s chief executive. She added, “in 2020, I will work to pass legislation to provide additional funding needed.” Gov. Brown may be racking up a bit of overtime on this one. I too will be happy to see a World Championship in the US, but I have serious concerns about destroying historic venues for the opportunity to make a few bucks. Shitty track, but if the Penn Relays can pack in a good crowd.............
Brown’s spokesman Charles Boyle added, “This is a significant marketing and tourism opportunity to showcase our state and Oregon businesses, and we are working with stakeholders and legislators to identify outstanding needs and make sure they are funded by March of 2020. “ Hey, Dufus, your outstanding needs are Education, Health Care, and getting re-elected. There is going to have to be some serious slight of hand to get this done.
The other good news for Oregon 21 is that the University of Oregon Foundation has agreed to serve as financial backstop to the event. The international governing body of the sport typically requires a local government or some other deep-pocketed entity to guarantee the event’s financial performance. Key phrase "deep-pocketed entitiy". NIKE!!!!! We need to work on image a bit here since the NOP affair went up in smoke. Forget the track meet, maybe we can support public education and critical thinking. Sorry folks, in a country where more than half the population cannot name the three branches of government......we need to do something about education.
Weinhold confirmed his board had settled on the agreement, adding “the foundation has the guarantee in place.” This I think means, "The old fixeroo is in". Hey who is on this U of O Foundation governing board?
That marks a confounding change in direction for the foundation. Last year, it withdrew as the financial guarantor, to the great alarm of the international federation. Now it’s back in. Weinhold declined to explain the foundation’s change of heart. "Change of Heart?" Hell have we got a heart? We need this show to go on and if it means we gotta buy the Oregon legislature to get a tax levy or the equivalent in place, well by golly that's what we're here for.
Still, plenty of hurdles remain. There's the 100 HH, 110 HH, 400IH x 2, and the Steeple x 2, that's a lot of hurdles.
Organizers and state officials also must fix a tax issue. Under United States’ and Oregon law, the $7.2 million in winnings for athletes is taxable at both the state and federal level. In the past, local governments have simply forgiven the tax. But for that to happen, the athlete prizes would have to increase sufficiently to cover the tax or the Oregon legislature would have to act to make the athletes exempt.
Not quite sure how this works. Your gonna give the athletes more money and make them exempt? How does this bring more money into public coffers to pay for the Championships? Oh yeah and lets not forget about that federal grab for the brass ring.
And the Oregon Legislature can’t do anything about the federal tax. You can always secede from the Union or elect a senator who will create legislation to eliminate all federal tax. In these times that person might find a lot of agreeable followers. isn't Oregon noted for its poiitical mavericks?
The Eugene championships would be the first staged in the U.S., so there’s no precedent in solving the problem. The '84 Olympics in L.A. may have been the exception to the rule in making a profit, but Track doesn't have beach volleyball to sell to the TV watching audience.
Organizers will also have to go to the legislature to solve another potential issue: The transient lodging tax increase that Brown is relying upon to raise a significant portion of the state’s contribution to the event sunsets next July. How do you make millions on a transient lodging tax during a 7 or 8 day event when there are so few hotels in Eugene? And most of those rooms will go to IOC wonks, heads of 100 national federations and their entourages and the teams. And those people usually don't expect to pay bills for lodging. They feel it is owed to them.
The prospect of staging the World Championships in Eugene is thrilling to many American track fans. The town is much revered by athletes, who love the educated fans who pack the stands. But but , but, Hayward fugging Field ain't there no more!!
But this is an event normally held in London, Paris and Beijing, world capitals that can easily handle the flood of tourists. In Eugene, lodging, transportation and a host of other logistical issues will be challenging. Challenging? I'd rather tackle Mt. Everest in a wheelchair without oxygen.
Brown and others in Salem are confident that the Legislature will be supportive enough to give Brown what she needs. That is, unless Senate President Peter Courtney’s ongoing financial concerns gain traction with other lawmakers. Courtney is the guy they should have sent to Doha. See how the pros raise money out of a pile of sand.
Courtney predicted an enormous wave of additional financial demands as the event comes closer -- and afterwards. Okay, who's gonna pick up all these Starbucks cups and rebuild Tracktown Pizza?
“It’ll be in the hundreds of millions of dollars before it’s over,” he said. “I’m telling you right now, we don’t know how much money they’re going to need and we have no idea where the money is coming from.” Come on Mr. Courtney, it will be easier for a man to have a baby, than for Eugene and the state of Oregon to lose money on this venture.
Courtney added that he thinks Brown and the World Championships will carry the day, “I’ve lost,” he said. “The event is coming. I just want to know how big the tsunami is going to be.” By the way, I've already picked out my tombstone and paid for it.
One thing organizers don’t anticipate is a problem with attendance. Even the newly enlarged Hayward Field should be packed. Well, if we don't sell all the tickets, we learned in Doha how to pack the stands. We'll have an illegal immigrant relocation center put in the javelin area.
But an event fan club, formed to connect with future ticket buyers, failed to meet projections. Organizers hoped to have 100,000 people signed up by the end of October. They didn’t get there and it’s unclear how close they got. It's a trade secret, and we ain't sayin'.
Weinhold, who chairs the organizing committee, said he did not know the number. He added that the 100,000 goal was ambitious and that he’s not troubled by the shortfall.
Shortfall, schmortfall, the Ducks are going to the Rose Bowl this year.
“It is going to be a great thing,” Weinhold said. “We now have a strong team in place. It’s nice to have the government’s promise.” Wait a minute. Two things there. That statement means you started with a weak team? How did you get away with that for such an important event? To me it just means that no one thinks long term when there is the promise of a potential gold rush. It's always the guys that sold the picks and shovels who got rich and then left town. And what is the value of any government's promise? Better talk to the hedge fund boys.
New story: I really heard this on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) radio today that there is an App called 'Cameo'. On it you can hire a celebrity to record and deliver a message for a fee based on the level of the celebrity's stardom. Katelin Jenner will do one of these broadcasts for $2500. People are using this App to dump guy friends or girl friends, not necessarily with Katelin . Just letting you know if you need a message sent, I am open to discussion on my fee for this service. George
Comments:
Geoff Pietsch said...
Comments:
Not much to add to this devastating commentary on Eugene and Oregon, but I did want to comment on your initial basic point, which was:
"It just got me remembering how many times we've seen professional sports teams literally hold up a community with threats of moving if the community doesn't give a huge tax break or pay for a new stadium to get a pro team to come to town."
In this election season, I wish some candidate would make this an issue. Specifically that professional sports leagues essentially prevent cities from owning teams. Yes, Green Bay is an exception. It was grandfathered in. And clearly the franchise is thriving and will never move from that small city in the icy north to some Sun Belt, big money metropolis. It won't because it is a non-profit owned by over 360,000 stockholders, and no one can own more than roughly 4% of its shares. NFL rules require all other franchises to have a maximum of 32 owners and at least one must own 30%. As I understand it, almost a century ago the Supreme Court exempted Major League Baseball from anti-trust laws (surely a decision that could/should be overturned) and in the 1960s Congress exempted the NFL from anti-trust laws when it came to negotiating TV contracts.
Bill Schnier said"
George, what a great piece on a typical money grab of the public from sports. Here is what makes sense. If a tax base pays for the stadium in part or in whole, they should reap the profits at that same rate. For instance, in 2000 Hamilton County, Ohio spent $455 million to build Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals contributed $44 million and the taxpayers contributed $411 million. The Bengals reaped all of the profits and the taxpayers none. Two reasons for this successful holdup were: (1) the team threatened to move and (2) the Hamilton Co. commissioner who spearheaded this deal did not run again but instead was hired by the Bengals. This profit sharing would not work unless a federal law were enacted because one state would have profit sharing with the taxpayers and another would not meaning New York would have no NFL teams and Texas would have about 14. Is the federal government up to that challenge? Nope, so it will be business as usual in all states including Oregon.
"It just got me remembering how many times we've seen professional sports teams literally hold up a community with threats of moving if the community doesn't give a huge tax break or pay for a new stadium to get a pro team to come to town."
In this election season, I wish some candidate would make this an issue. Specifically that professional sports leagues essentially prevent cities from owning teams. Yes, Green Bay is an exception. It was grandfathered in. And clearly the franchise is thriving and will never move from that small city in the icy north to some Sun Belt, big money metropolis. It won't because it is a non-profit owned by over 360,000 stockholders, and no one can own more than roughly 4% of its shares. NFL rules require all other franchises to have a maximum of 32 owners and at least one must own 30%. As I understand it, almost a century ago the Supreme Court exempted Major League Baseball from anti-trust laws (surely a decision that could/should be overturned) and in the 1960s Congress exempted the NFL from anti-trust laws when it came to negotiating TV contracts.
Bill Schnier said"
George, what a great piece on a typical money grab of the public from sports. Here is what makes sense. If a tax base pays for the stadium in part or in whole, they should reap the profits at that same rate. For instance, in 2000 Hamilton County, Ohio spent $455 million to build Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals contributed $44 million and the taxpayers contributed $411 million. The Bengals reaped all of the profits and the taxpayers none. Two reasons for this successful holdup were: (1) the team threatened to move and (2) the Hamilton Co. commissioner who spearheaded this deal did not run again but instead was hired by the Bengals. This profit sharing would not work unless a federal law were enacted because one state would have profit sharing with the taxpayers and another would not meaning New York would have no NFL teams and Texas would have about 14. Is the federal government up to that challenge? Nope, so it will be business as usual in all states including Oregon.
1 comment:
Not much to add to this devastating commentary on Eugene and Oregon, but I did want to comment on your initial basic point, which was:
"It just got me remembering how many times we've seen professional sports teams literally hold up a community with threats of moving if the community doesn't give a huge tax break or pay for a new stadium to get a pro team to come to town."
In this election season, I wish some candidate would make this an issue. Specifically that professional sports leagues essentially prevent cities from owning teams. Yes, Green Bay is an exception. It was grandfathered in. And clearly the franchise is thriving and will never move from that small city in the icy north to some Sun Belt, big money metropolis. It won't because it is a non-profit owned by over 360,000 stockholders, and no one can own more than roughly 4% of its shares. NFL rules require all other franchises to have a maximum of 32 owners and at least one must own 30%. As I understand it, almost a century ago the Supreme Court exempted Major League Baseball from anti-trust laws (surely a decision that could/should be overturned) and in the 1960s Congress exempted the NFL from anti-trust laws when it came to negotiating TV contracts.
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