Sports Illustrated’s Norman Chad has a new column up about New York’s new ballparks:
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.
Sports fans have been faced with a lot of stadium changes in recent years. I for one never got a chance to see a game in Tigers Stadium, but rather enjoyed the spacious Comerica Park (I even rode the carousel once!). It’s great to be able to go into some of the nation’s new sports arenas and let yourself be distracted by all the glitzy new opportunities to forget that the reason you came there was to watch sports.
The onus of blame too, is not even on the owners of teams like the Yankees, Mets, and anybody else looking to cash in on public money. They’re greedy. Surprise, surprise. Why wouldn’t they be? They’re running a business. The politicians with the power to stop or confound their attempts to exploit the public are the people that it is necessary to get angry at.
