Over the last few weeks, I have read several stories concerning the way that several sports owners are trying to negotiate their new stadiums in secret and then refuse to negotiate once the agreements are in the public eye.
Recently, the owners of the Tampa Bay Rays and Washington Commanders have used this tactic, although in slightly different ways. Residents of both Tampa Bay and Washington, DC, were never involved in stadium talks before an announcement was made on a new stadium. Once their deals were announced, the Rays claimed that their deal would not change because they had given up too much already, while the Commanders stomped their feet like a child and proclaimed how frustrated they were.
There are so many reasons why this position is absurd. The idea that an owner doesn’t need to negotiate anymore is laughable. Are sports owners really trying to say that if they get one local official to agree to a deal, then everyone in the local government must endorse it? Furthermore, sports owners love to portray themselves as “tired” or “exhausted” based on several contract changes being made to a multi-billion dollar deal. It’s as if they just don’t have the energy to scratch out a line on the paperwork. How dare we make the company look over the deal a number of times before they are given billions in taxpayer money.
Tampa Bay Rays
Several weeks ago, the Tampa Bay Rays, Hillsborough County, and city of Tampa officials announced that they had reached an agreement on a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a new “$2.3B ballpark.” Considering how taxpayers (along with many city officials) were not allowed to see or be involved in this MOU, many were interested to see the actual details of it. The language used in the MOU says that taxpayers will give at most $967M of money for the ballpark. Both the city of Tampa Bay and Hillsborough County will be handing over taxpayer money from Community Investment Tax revenues, tourist tax bonds, the Community Redevelopment Agency (which will be based on property value growth), and “other county funding sources.”
But we still have not been given the entire proposal yet because there are still so many questions unanswered. Basic questions about who pays for what are still unknown. I still do not understand how an agreement of this size can have so many blanks in it yet be pushed onto city officials and taxpayers. The CEO of the Rays, Ken Babby, has even publicly admitted that there are “definitive, important issues that need to be resolved—before…final votes.” Over the last two weeks, we have seen many city officials in and around Tampa Bay demand changes to the proposal before they sign off on continuing with the proposal. This makes sense since most of these city/county leaders were not involved in the initial negotiations. They want to negotiate before signing off on it.
But Babby also has a message for local officials who would like to make changes: The Tampa Bay Rays will not pay for anything else. No, really…he is claiming that the team will not allow for any “further financial concessions” because the team has “already given a lot” and the numbers “are what they are.” Well, that is some major league bullshit.
“Collectively we are not reopening a discussion on the economics in the MOU approved by the county commission and city council… We’ve worked for six months to reach the framework, so when you bring it to the public body, that doesn’t open up the dynamic to renegotiate the framework… But we’ve acknowledged that there’s…definitive, important issues that need to be resolved.” — Ken Babby, Tampa Bay Times, May 23, 2026
When the Tampa Bay Times asked for a clarification, Babby refused to point to any specific part of the proposal. But he again reiterated that moving forward, the team will not allow for any move that will “further increasing its share of the project cost.”
Maybe you are thinking that what is left to negotiate are just some small administrative things, right? Wrong. Arguably the most important parts of the agreement are right now blank to most city officials and every resident in Tampa. For example, who pays for the long-term maintenance of the ballpark? Who pays if the private development fails to materialize? Who has oversight over construction? Will the Rays sign a community benefits agreement that includes guarantees on affordable housing? Jobs?
We don’t know the answers to those VERY SIGNIFICANT QUESTIONS. Thankfully, there are several members on the Tampa City Council who have told the Rays that they will not vote for this agreement with the current language in it. These city leaders pointed out the questions being left on the table with a number of the funding sources involved in this deal.
For example, there are many who question whether the city can legally even give the Rays $80 million from the Community Investment Tax funds. Other members noted that the Rays have yet to discuss this plan with anyone related to infrastructure projects. As one local radio station claimed, the “Rays Stadium Deal Raises Transparency Red Flags.”
“City Council members voted to move forward with negotiations tied to the nonbinding memorandum of understanding, or MOU, for the proposed new Rays ballpark on the Dale Mabry campus of Hillsborough College. However, several council members made it clear they oppose key funding components in the current proposal…Four of the seven council members argued the use of CIT funds for the stadium was inappropriate and raised concerns about how the negotiations were handled” — 05/21/26, Fox 13
In the last 24 hours, we now have different local leaders demanding that taxpayer money be given to the local NFL team, the Tampa Bay Bucs, instead of the Rays. ROh, who cares? Let’s just approve it.
Washington Commanders
Everything about this deal is terrible for residents of DC. Much like Tampa Bay, local officials in Washington, DC, were largely left out of the negotiations between the mayor and executives with the Commanders.
Last year, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that a new stadium would be built at RFK for the Commanders. The total price of the project would be $3.7B, with $1.1B coming from taxpayers. The mayor was all smiles, though, as she “assured” residents that the $1.1B was really an “investment” that would be “money well spent” thanks to it producing $5.1B in tax revenues over 30 years. Let’s just set aside the fact that the $5.1B number was so laughably high and overstated that even local media outlets didn’t take it seriously.
Thankfully, it seems like almost everyone else has seen this deal as absolutely terrible for residents of DC. The Washington Post called this deal “lopsided…puts taxpayers on the hook for billions of bucks to pay for a football palace that could be used as few as a dozen days a year.” Defector called the stadium deal an “abomination” after the Commanders were given the “exclusive right to develop housing and retail around the stadium” for $1 per year. Additionally, the team was given “rent-free use of 24 acres of city-controlled land for a period of 26 years.” It isn’t difficult to see how the actual cost to taxpayers will be much, much higher. Anyone expecting the city to see revenues from property taxes on the stadium will be disappointed. The Commanders won’t own the land; DC will, and therefore the team won’t pay property taxes!
In no surprise, the entire negotiation was done behind closed doors and with zero taxpayer input. As the Tax Foundation wrote, this entire agreement was done with taxpayers on the sidelines the entire time. Weeks before this deal was first announced by the mayor of DC, local news outlets were trying to get information on the negotiations and got nothing. They got nothing because the DC government actively stopped anyone from getting any information:
“D.C. officials are refusing to reveal how they might use public money to help build a new Washington Commanders stadium, even as the project took a significant step forward with the DC Council’s approval to transfer the RFK site to the District. Despite taxpayers footing the bill for multiple studies examining stadium financing options, the DC Government has repeatedly denied public records requests seeking details about potential funding mechanisms, citing the need to protect its negotiating position with the team.” — 02/04/25, WUSA9
When city council members finally got their hands on the deal, they began to negotiate changes to the agreement. How did the team react? Well, the team claimed to be “frustrated” at these requests. When the final city vote was approaching, the Commanders would “not alter the central terms of the deal.” According to the team, if anyone tries to make them change the agreement, then DC won’t be able to “attract premier concerts, global talent, and marquee events” and will “slow new jobs” somehow. None of those are remotely true. The team simply didn’t want to wait any longer in case city leaders continued to get informed on the long and complicated deal in front of them. The Commanders owner repeatedly threatened to walk away if the deal wasn’t approved quickly. Why? So that the new stadium could host the Women’s World Cup in 2031? Really? How would this remotely be affected if the deal is pushed back weeks? Months?
The team has tried to promote the notion that they did agree to several items before the final vote. But give me a break. One of these so-called changes revolves around the Commanders making “promises…to preserve more heritage trees on the land” and to “adhere to higher environmental building standards for the stadium.” These aren’t changes; they are worthless promises that aren’t in writing. They can be ignored by the team, and nothing could be done. The environmental promises were even mocked by the local Sierra Club chapter, which reminded the public that the team’s promises had no safeguards. The only person who got the team to make any changes that weren’t a joke was DC Council chairman Phil Mendelson. But even these changes, while they look big at first, will not make this deal any easier for locals. Mendelson got the team to give up a small amount of revenue from parking and sales taxes that DC claims will net them $674M over 30 years. He also put in place small fines if the team doesn’t fulfill their housing promises.
Recently, WUSA9, a local Washington DC news affiliate, ran an investigation into the Commanders deal and found that the deal has “serious questions about the true cost to taxpayers.” When WUSA9 asked D.C.’s chief financial officer for the total interest payment on bonds that will help fund the stadium, they were simply told that the answer was “unknown at this time.” WUSA9 asked the CFO about the yearly interest payments…again they were told that it was unknown. Excuse me? You DON’T KNOW THE INTEREST PAYMENT AMOUNTS?
Listen, I am just glad that DC was able to find the money for this project. Over the last few months, I have read many articles discussing how the DC government was in the middle of a financial crisis thanks to a revenue shortfall of almost $1B. In fact, didn’t I just read that the mayor of DC was going to need to cut $500M in potential programs and reductions that many citizens need and rely on to literally survive? Wah Wah. Who cares? Just pass the deal, and let’s see those insanely high ticket prices for the new stadium!