Saturday, September 09, 2006
 
Wealthy Owners, Profitable Ball Club Cannot Fulfill Promises Made to Get Public Money Without More Public Money
The St. Louis Cardinals want the taxpayers to throw more good money after bad--for the Cardinals owners to catch, of course:
    As the new Busch Stadium continues to attract sellout crowds, the crater next door that was once the old stadium continues to do what it has done since the season's first pitch: gather dust.

    Team officials have promised that the site one day will be Ballpark Village, a bustling collection of shops, restaurants and condominiums that will transform downtown St. Louis. To get a tax break from the city, Cardinals executives three years ago committed to spending at least $60 million to develop two of Ballpark Village's planned six blocks.

    Now they are back, pushing for a $650 million project on all six blocks. But with that renewed ambition, comes an outstretched hand - more public financing. A look at similar projects shows that the taxpayers' burden could well exceed $100 million.
I would be almost be happy if this proved to be an expensive lesson to governments who would spend their constituents' money to pamper sports teams. However, like all other boondoggles before it, I expect this will ultimately only prove to be expensive.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:12 PM
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