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August 11, 2008
City owns stadiums,but teams to cash in
MetroNY
by Patrick Arden
Here's an instance where benefits from publicly-owned stadiums in New York City go to the teams. In this case, the issue is the sports memorabilia that will be created when Shea and Yankee stadiums are demolished. Even though New York City owns these facilities, the city is splitting the take with the teams.
Another example of this kind of behavior on the part of the government is how, although the proposed Nets arena will be publicly owned, the Nets will collect all of the more than $300 million from the arena naming rights to be paid by Barclay's Bank.
Other places have netted millions by selling everything from chairs to urinals. But New York’s ballparks promise bigger paydays before the wrecking ball, said Dan Rosenthal, chief operating officer for Schneider Industries, which handled the dismantling of the old Busch Stadium in St. Louis. While Busch sales totaled $8 million, estimated proceeds from Yankee Stadium are already pegged as high as $50 million.
Taxpayers own both Yankee and Shea stadiums, but the city has decided to divvy up the take with the teams. A mayoral spokesman said the split with the Mets favors the city 70 percent to 30 percent. The Mets will promote the sale on its Web site, on TV and at games. “It’s city property,” explained the team’s Dan Newman, “but we’ll act as the marketing agent.”
NoLandGrab: Instead of acting as "marketing agent", the city would do well to fulfill its actual role: stadium owner.
Posted by steve at August 11, 2008 4:30 AM