« Nonprofit Corporation to Yield Control of Site in Yonkers | Main | Pirro Is Forced to Address Chapter of Husband's Past »
August 16, 2005
The sport of stadium-building
The Bergen Record by Evan Weiner
A keen look at the change in how sports team owners are structuring their deals with cities and states for new venues.
Politicians and sports owners are no longer using the argument that a football stadium or an indoor arena will serve as an economic engine and will be the linchpin of financial development.
An individual owner will build a new stadium or arena, paying for the facility out of his or her own pocket. The owner also wants acres upon acres of land complete with tax breaks and incentives such as making payments in lieu of taxes to build what sports owners now term an "urban village."
Sports used to be all about games, but the simple truth is that sports ownership looks at actual games as just a byproduct of a growing industry that includes media and real estate.
How does Ratner figure in this new trend?
The New Jersey Nets are moving to Brooklyn in a real estate deal. Bruce Ratner will build an arena and then an urban village complete with skyscrapers surrounding the new Brooklyn Arena. All Ratner wants is the land and tax breaks and incentives.
And if Ratner doesn't get all the land he needs he can always get New York City to seize land through eminent domain - and the Supreme Court has given its blessing to eminent domain seizures - to make sure he gets everything he needs to build his urban village.
NoLandGrab: What seems to be unique about the Ratner plan is that he's a real estate mogul exploiting the benefits of sports team ownership, instead of the other way around.
Posted by lumi at August 16, 2005 8:25 AM