In the past, I have written several times about the many issues facing the city of Cleveland (I know, it really is Cuyahoga County, but I am just saying Cleveland) thanks to their local sports teams always wanting yearly upgrades to their venues. Nevermind that these teams have owners worth billions. Why is the city not telling the teams to pay for their own ridiculous upgrades every few months?
Cleveland taxpayers agreed to the sin tax increase in 1990. This increase paid for the Cleveland Guardians (“Guardians”) new ballpark and the Cleveland Cavaliers (“Cavs”) new arena. In 1995, Cleveland taxpayers were again asked for more money. The 1995 vote that was approved paid for the construction of the Cleveland Browns (“Browns”) new stadium. But when you read articles from the time around these votes, nothing is ever mentioned that discusses repairs and upgrades in future years. Everything was done to BUILD THOSE VENUES. A UPI article from 1990 discussed the vote and noted that taxpayers were being asked to “build a…stadium-arena project” that would allow the Guardians and Cavs to move into new venues in the future. The article also mentions how this sin tax would never be allowed to pay for “more than half of the costs of the project”.
Here is where the trouble begins. In early 2014, Cleveland taxpayers were yet again asked to vote in favor of renewing the sin taxes. However, this time, it was for “stadium maintenance”. Estimates showed that this latest vote would give the teams “another $260 million” towards “major capital repairs.” Except, the way that this proposal was written up was done so in a way that essentially allowed the teams to use this money for whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted and no oversight or protection given to taxpayers. And any new revenues? All given to the teams. This site has also discussed that the Cavs love to make little repairs come off as major needs that may destroy the arena if not fixed! Like bird strikes!
I thought a Cleveland blogger made a good point right after the 2014 vote:
“If the sin tax passes, there is nothing in the measure that requires (the teams) to spend this money on anything specific. And that could open up all sorts of doors for them to put in new ways to sell more ads in the stadiums. For instance, some stadium designers say that in the future, there might a TV screen at every seat, with which you can order food and drink, watch highlights and, of course, see more ads. If any of the Cleveland teams decide to go that route, they could use the sin tax money for such an upgrade. They would not be obligated to ask the voters if this would be okay. And there would certainly be no provision for them to share new ad revenues from new scoreboards or seat screens with the public who paid for them. So let’s be clear. These new scoreboards are not about a better “fan experience;” they are getting more profits from advertising revenue they do not have to split with the league” — BeltMag, Daniel J. McGraw, 2014
The Akron Beacon Journal wrote a piece which claimed that since the sports venues are “public facilities”, then Cleveland taxpayers must pay for maintenance under the lease agreements. Well, I would argue that these Cleveland sports venues are deemed public facilities while also not even coming close to actual public facilities. Access? Revenues? The teams run the venues almost entirely. Good luck trying to find a way to enter the Guardians or Cavs venues during off-hours. Another thing, just because the local government is deemed to be the so-called owner of a building or venue does not mean that any lease agreement MUST include language that forces the local government to pay for yearly upkeep. Much less the insane upkeep that the teams are forcing on the city…with yearly costs rising into the many millions. I wonder how several other cities have gotten teams to pay for their upgrades, as spelled out in the lease agreement. But the Akron newspaper does remind us that one aspect of the 1990 vote was conclusive. The promises of job-creations from the sports venues and teams? “No Question…estimates…were never met”.
As I have written about in the past here, the Cavs and Guardians have all but hit their 20-year allotted amount (which totaled $260M for all three teams) yet still continue to demand more and more money from taxpayers. The city and county have gotten so desperate that they are approving team requests with no idea how or if the city could even afford it. Have things gotten better in the last few months? Of course not. The Cavs and Guardians want $40M for new upgrades. According to Signal Cleveland, the lease agreement between the city and teams allows for the teams to force the city to make the repairs demanded…which is crazy.
So the sin tax is clearly not working anymore and is out of money. One county executive told local media that he has spoken to the teams about finding a long-term solution for funding future upgrades. As if this were the worst thing in the world, the county executive ended his statement with this statement…“it’s a conversation that’s probably also going to have to include the public.” Oh, no! That poor soul must show the public what is being talked about with the taxpayer’s own money?