Field of Schemes
Total reads
28
This week
12
Rank
#343 of 435
Published
82 posts
Last 12 weeks
Most read posts
Featured on Sportsblogs
Run this blog? Add the badge to your site to show readers you're featured — it links back to this page.
Latest Entries
Suburban Illinois mayors are pitching Bears on stadium sites again as Indiana plans falter
The Chicago Bears‘ search for the city that will lavish it with the most public stadium dollars has officially re-entered the throwing-stuff-at-the-wall stage, with fresh suburbs entering the fray. Last week, McCook, Illinois Mayor Terrance Carr and four of his top officials hand-delivered a letter to Bears execs spelling out a stadium proposal in his village […]
Friday roundup: NC may earmark $700m for stadium for imaginary MLB team, Steelers could seek upgrade on “expiring” 25-year-old home
Before we get to this week’s news roundup, some old business from last week: I shamefully forgot to give a shoutout to John Mozena for his outstanding liveblog of the stadium-related papers at University of Maryland-Baltimore County’s annual sports economics conference after I was unable to attend. Please check out John’s work at the Center […]
Creating authority to own Browns stadium would push Haslam’s total taxpayer subsidy to $1.3B
Cleveland Browns update: University of Colorado Denver economist Geoff Propheter got back to me yesterday with an estimate for how much Brook Park, Ohio will give up in property taxes by setting up a public authority to own a Browns stadium, and the number is: $539 million in present value, on the low end. (While […]
Brook Park gives initial okay to stadium authority to provide more tax breaks for Browns owner
The Cleveland Browns are already in the process of moving to a new $2.4 billion stadium in suburban Brook Park with the aid of $600 million in state money and $245 million in city money — they’ve even held a groundbreaking — but that doesn’t mean team owner Jimmy Haslam is done asking for stuff. In […]
LOLWorld Cup report: Long lines, high prices, sea of red ink for host nations, windfall profits for FIFA
The World Cup is now finally underway, and aside from the endless string of matches with no winner, how’s that going? A stadium workers’ strike in Los Angeles was averted, and the great water bottle kerfuffle died down, but have there are least been the promised travel nightmares and budgetary fiascos? Early signs are mixed, […]
Introducing Field of Schemes: the Expanded Universe
Fairly regularly I get asked, “When are you going to write another book on sports stadiums?” I get the impetus behind the question: The first edition of Field of Schemes came out almost 30 years ago at this point, and while the book has been updated twice since then, a lot of stadium and arena […]
Friday roundup: KC could spend $235m+ to expand 2-year-old soccer stadium; Rays vote put off at least to August
How is it Friday again already? Is there more than one Friday per week now? Is it always Friday? Discuss in comments. When the owners of the NWSL’s Kansas City Current agreed to build a $117 million soccer stadium mostly with private money in 2022, it was seen as a rare win for keeping public costs […]
Indiana, Illinois still jockeying to throw billions of dollars at Bears stadium
If last Friday’s announcement that the Chicago Bears were “advancing” a stadium project in Hammond, Indiana was meant to end debate about where the team’s new home will be, it’s not working. If it was meant to stir up debate, by reigniting the bidding war that fizzled when the Illinois legislature declined to pass a big […]
Two months after Royals stadium deal proposed, KC mayor still hasn’t asked for state funds
It’s been two months since Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas announced plans for a new Kansas City Royals stadium development in the downtown Crown Center, using $600 million in city property tax kickbacks, $350 million or more in state money, and $400 million or more in additional tax exemptions, and we still don’t know much about […]
Liveblog: What economists are telling us this year about sports stadiums
I unfortunately had to cancel my trip to this year’s sports economics conference at University of Maryland-Baltimore County starting today, but friend of Field of Schemes John Mozena of the Center for Economic Accountability generously offered to liveblog from there instead. Take it away, John, I will be following eagerly along with other readers! —Neil […]
Plano just approved how much money exactly for a new Dallas Stars arena?
I didn’t make it to this week’s annual sports economics conference in Maryland that starts this morning, but a special guest blogger has offered to report back on the stadium papers presented there, so please tune back in later today for that. (UPDATE: now underway!) In the meantime, I’ve taken on the task of figuring […]
Bears announce they’re moving to Indiana, unless they don’t
Friday news dumps may not work anymore in their original purpose of hiding bad news, but they can still be useful when someone wants to influence the social media discourse without risk of anyone in an official capacity picking up the phone until three days later. That looks to be what just happened with the Chicago […]
Friday roundup: Manfred’s funny Rays poll numbers, Chiefs sales tax fight, MLS wants even more Big O money
You probably noticed, but it’s Friday! Which brings us, with no further ado, to the rest of the week’s news: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has said that he’s “hopeful” that a Tampa Bay Rays stadium in Tampa will win final approval, given that “we think the polling runs about 60-40 in favor of the stadium.” Actual […]
Stars owners announce move to Plano as soon as city agrees to pay $700m for new arena
This has been quite a week already for Dallas sports franchises announcing arena plans without quite committing to them: On Monday, the Mavericks owners declared that they had “entered into option agreements” to maybe purchase 104 acres at the former Valley View Mall site in north Dallas to use for a new arena. (The total […]
KC mayor says new sales taxes will help pay off Royals stadium, but he can’t say how much or he’ll have to kill you
And in the latest sign that George Orwell is our national showrunner this season: Mayor Quinton Lucas told reporters that the city has projections for how much tax revenue a new stadium could generate based on what Kauffman Stadium in the Truman Sports Complex produces now — which city officials say is roughly $5 million […]
The Bears are right back where they started, and is that really so bad?
The Chicago Bears stadium bill saga is all over (for now) but the shouting, and there is So. Much. Shouting. Take your pick of the takes: Illinois legislators are to blame for fumbling the ball into the Bears’ hands. The Bears leadership is to blame for toying with Chicago’s affections. It takes a big pony […]
Illinois legislature adjourns without passing Bears bill, team to “finalize evaluation” of Arlington Heights, Hammond by summer
The clock ran out on the Illinois state legislative session last night at midnight, but the decision on whether to pass legislation for a Chicago Bears stadium remained alive until this morning, when the Illinois house finally stuck a fork in it by adjourning without a vote. After the collapse of the team’s preferred megaprojects tax […]
Friday roundup: Rays stadium could get vote in July maybe, Sacramento offers $1B in tax money for MLB expansion team
Lots of state legislative sessions are wrapping up this week, but it’s been oddly quiet around actual stadium news, leaving room for lots of spin doctoring and other questionable takes: Turns out today’s conclusion of the Florida legislature’s special budget session won’t be a deadline for a Tampa Bay Rays stadium deal, as everything appears […]
What the hell is up with the Bears stadium bill? (updating, maybe)
With four days left before the end of the Illinois legislative session, Crain’s Chicago Business reports (citing no specific sources) that state senators are “considering dramatically scaling back a sweeping megaproject incentive bill” to cut out everything except tax breaks for a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights. The idea here is to avoid debate on […]
Bucs want $667m in renovation money from Tampa, could set up battle with Rays for tax dollars
Into the simmering Tampa Bay Rays stadium controversy, the Buccaneers owners the Glazer family have flung a significant bomb, telling the Tampa Sports Authority they want a $1 billion renovation of their stadium (original cost: $168.5 million in 1998), with the public covering two-thirds of the price. And sports authority members are already questioning whether Tampa should […]
Rays CEO to unhappy legislators: Like our stadium deal the way it is, or lump it
Negotiating is a funny business: You simultaneously want to hold the line in hopes of getting the best deal for your side, while also offering concessions as an enticement to get a deal done. It’s a tricky dance, and requires knowing when to bluster and when to accede, in the hopes of vanquishing your enemy […]
How many billions of tax dollars would a Bears megaproject bill cost Illinois? The Cook County treasurer investimagates
The Cook County treasurer’s office released a report this morning on the fiscal impact of the proposed “megaprojects” tax break bill that Chicago Bears execs are pushing for, and concluding: “The benefits for the Bears and other megaproject developers are clear, while the benefits for Illinois residents are murky.” there are a bunch of interesting tidbits […]
Friday roundup: Rays stadium gets a yes vote that’s actually a no, Bears tax break talks get weird
If any of you were wondering what happened to this year’s sports economics conference at University of Maryland Baltimore County, it moved from April to June, so it hasn’t happened yet. I just booked my trip, so FoS readers can expect a liveblog on the day of stadium-related papers, at least. And if you’ll be […]
County gives “conditional yes” to yet-to-be-finalized Rays stadium deal, city likely to follow suit today
As expected, the Hillsborough County Commission voted yesterday to approve the nonbinding MOU put forward last week for a $2.3 billion Tampa Bay Rays stadium (and unspecified other development) on what is currently Hillsborough College’s Dale Mabry Campus. The final tally was 5-2, with the two sure no votes, Donna Cameron Cepeda and Joshua Wostal, in […]
Goodell says Bears stadium “process is going on,” offers no details where it’ll end up
Chicago Bears execs presented the NFL with a stadium update yesterday, and what did they say, commissioner Roger Goodell? “There was a specific update on the Bears on the two sites that are viable in the Bears’ mind,” he said. “That process is going on.”… “I’ve spoken to the governor [of Illinois] recently and there’s […]
Displaying items 51-75 of 82 in total