... city pawn? Politicians and stadium/sport supporters boost proposals for public funding for sports stadiums/teams with economic impact statements claiming that sports/stadiums will generate tons of economic benefits for the local economy. For those locations that have not secured a franchise, there is the "if we build it, they will come" mantra. In this case, "they" refers to a major league sports team. Tropicana Field was built with this notion in mind.
Unfortunately, what often happens is that these locations become pawns in the stadium game played by teams. Leagues, realizing the value of open cities in subsidy negotiations, keep otherwise viable cities open partly to maximize the leverage teams have with local governments. . For example, after Tropicana Field was opened, the Tampa-St. Pete area became a pawn for the White Sox in the Sox's stadium negotiations over a decade ago. Los Angeles is often trotted out as a threat point for NFL teams seeking public subsidies.
That may well be what's happening in Kansas City with the now one-year old Sprint Center.
“Clearly, within the entertainment, sports and live-music industry, it is as hot a building as there is in the country. No one could fault what we did with the building. We built it on time, on budget, and put on more events than anyone thought humanly possible without an anchor tenant.”
While that may be true, a major component in the public’s approval of an initiative to finance most of the project with taxes on hotel stays and car rentals was the prospect of an NBA or NHL team guaranteeing 40 to 50 dates. So far, the closest thing the Sprint Center has is the Kansas City Brigade of the Arena Football League.
When plans to build the arena were announced in 2004, Leiweke exuded confidence the Sprint Center would have a major-league tenant “playing here the day you open your doors.”
A year later, no-one has come knocking. The honeymoon is probably still in effect, but the longer the arena does not have an anchor tenant, the less likely the arena's honeymoon effect will have on any potential anchor tenant's bottom line.
**I originally had posted only the link by mistake. I had intended the link to only be a draft, but in my morning rush to get to the university yesterday I made the link public. My bad.