The sports-edifice complex: Follow the money where the sun don't shine

[TexasTowelie]

"Since 2005, North American municipalities have allocated more than $8 billion to stadium projects without so much as a public vote, says Tim Kellison, an assistant professor at the University of Florida studying stadium financing. 'A lot of it happens under the radar,' he says. 'Decisions can be made very quickly.' "

-- from "Public cut out of stadium votes" by Mina Kimes, in the Dec. 8 issue of ESPN The Magazine

Just how far under the radar does it go, this business of dumping public money into sports edifices for the benefit of rich sports owners? Here's one of my favorite details from this report by ESPN The Magazine columnist Mina Kimes. She's writing here about the way the County Commission of of Cobb County, Georgia, pursued its plan to issue $400 million in bonds for the building of a new stadium for the Atlanta Braves: "Atlanta magazine reported that the commissioners met privately with Braves executives, rotating in and out to avoid forming a quorum, which would have forced them to convene in public."

Of course there's always incentive to move chunks of money around for purposes that seem vaguely public-spirited given that movement of large chunks of money creates opportunities for people to position themselves in the path of that movement. Sports edifices have a special appeal, though. As Mina writes, "For the better part of a century, politicians from both parties have siphoned taxpayer money into sports teams' coffers, clawing at the chance to prostrate themselves before billionaire owners."

The especially modern touch, though, is the secrecy. And as Mina puts it, Atlanta Braves President John Schuerholz "spoke with unusual candor about the team's furtive dealings with Cobb County":

"If it had gotten out, more people would have started taking the position of, 'We don't want that to happen,' " he said. Elected officials might crave the spotlight, but they loathe the glare of public scrutiny. It's easier when everyone else lives in the dark.

It seems the public has gotten a little less enthusiastic about shelling out tens and hundreds of millions of dollars for the benefit of rich guys. And if you think they might say no, is it any wonder you'd just as soon they know as little as possible about what you're doing? The source of the Schuerholz quote, by the way, is a piece from the website "Field of Schemes" called "Braves exec: Good thing this stadium deal was secret, or somebody might have objected."

See more at: http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-sports-edifice-complex-follow-money.html