The Conservative Cave
The Bar => Sports => Topic started by: Oriole Fan on April 20, 2009, 10:30:11 AM
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Yankee Stadium? Citi Field? At least we have our priorities right
We are now 230-odd years into the American experiment and one thing is clear -- like the Roman Empire before us, we love our games!
(Fact: When Nero fiddled, he was in a luxury box at the Colosseum.)
New York, the most sophisticated sports town in Sports Nation, brings us two spectacularly expensive new stadiums this month -- rent-free and property tax-free for the Mets and the Yankees -- largely subsidized by public money on city-owned land.
The Mets' new Citi Field, a.k.a. Belly-Up Ballpark, cost $850 million.
The new Yankee Stadium -- boy, that old Yankee Stadium was a real stinker, eh? -- cost $1.5 billion.
Amazingly, in a city faced with myriad budget problems, the Mets and the Yankees not only successfully solicited public financing, both clubs came back with their hand out a second time -- and got more money.
Schools? No money.
Subway? No money.
Stadiums? How much do you need? Thank you sir, may I have another.
During the seventh-inning stretch at the new Yankee Stadium, they shouldn't sing Take Me Out of the Ballgame, they should sing, Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
As it turns out, George Steinbrenner is a welfare mother with a sugar daddy. His name is Michael Bloomberg, he's the eternal mayor of New York City and he hands out tax-free bonds like Kit Kat Club flyers.
The Yankees got $1.2 billion in tax-exempt bonds and $136 million in taxable bonds; the Mets got $697 million in tax-free bonds.
Link (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/norman_chad/04/19/couch.slouch/index.html)
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I have to agree that it's nuts.
There was nothing wrong with the old Yankee stadium.
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Of course, with the pricey new facilities -- Yankee Stadium II is the most expensive sports venue in history -- come pricey new customer costs. Simply put, taxpayers footed the bill for a stadium they cannot afford to get into.
The average price of a non-premium Yankees ticket is $72.97, up 76 percent from last year.
The priciest ticket -- it's called a "premium seat" -- is $2,625. Granted, it is a very good seat, but for $2,625, you should be able to fill out the lineup card, ride in the bullpen car and take A-Rod home.
Repeat: It's $2,625 for a single ticket. For a family of four, that's $10,500, plus parking.
Fools, and damn fools.
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It's all about "luxury boxes," plain and simple. There's more of them in the new YankMe Stadium/"Debits Field" than in the old YankMe Stadium/Shea Stadium.
(I got the "Debits Field" one from the guy who is minding MetsToday.com while its owner is in Guatamala on vacation. The Wilpons have this obsession with the original Ebbets Field, so with the bailout, "Debits Field" sounds so much better than "Bailout Field." Still a pitchers' park.)