Field of Schemes
@fieldofschemes.bsky.social
Sports stadium and arena news by Neil deMause (@neildemause.bsky.social), co-author of the book Field of Schemes.
Though the phrase “can’t-miss webinar” sounds like an oxymoron, I think this might just be one (tonight at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET).
Mitch Green@councilorgreen.bsky.social · 4d agoJoin me, sports economists @jcbradbury.com & @victor-matheson.bsky.social with co-host @councilormorillo.bsky.social on the economics of publicly funded stadiums. The term sheet is coming with limited information provided to us on the Moda Center renovations. Let’s discuss. zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Did Tom Dundon really buy the Blazers just to move them, or does he just believe in never giving an inch in negotiations? Another way of asking the same question: Is Tom Dundon playing 4D chess, or is he just an asshole? It can be both!
Does Tom Dundon really want to move the Trail Blazers, or he just creating leverage?
One of the persistent themes in the ever-non-evolving Portland Trail Blazers arena saga has been the question of what new team owner Tom Dundon really wants. Oh, he's made clear enough what he's askin...
fieldofschemes.com
Broncos president Damani Leech sent a clear message to Denver-area officials: Why doesn't anyone else share our urgency about giving us what we want for our stadium? It's like you all have other priorities or something!
Broncos execs tired of waiting for someone to give them land and money for stadium
It's been almost a year since Denver Broncos owners Greg and Carrie Penner, Mayor Mike Johnston, and Gov. Jared Polis announced plans for a new stadium to be built by 2031 at Denver's state-owned Burn...
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"The distance between the Blazers and the city is pretty significant,’’ said Portland council president Jamie Dunphy. Next up, an Aug. 12 vote; if the council delays or votes no, it'll be up to Blazers owner/supervillain Tom Dundon to decide his next move.
Friday roundup: Blazers arena staredown escalates, haggling continues in Rays stadium standoff
Happy Friday! There's nothing in the latest batch of stadium and arena news that can quite compete with the European and North/Central American soccer federations vowing to start boycotting FIFA event...
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Portland leaders have leverage — especially with Dundon's lease prohibiting relocation talks for now, and with state funding expiring soon — but they're unlikely to use it if the media keep speculating about other cities allegedly waiting in the wings.
Where will Tom Dundon move the Trail Blazers? Probably nowhere
The Portland Trail Blazers arena dispute so far in a nutshell: Tom Dundon, owner of the Carolina Hurricanes and past purveyor of predatory lending car loans, bought the Blazers from the estate of the ...
fieldofschemes.com
It's always baffling when elected officials spend time and energy debating which pool of public funds to hand over to a sports team owner, like someone trying to decide whether to pay for an expensive purchase with their debit or credit card.
County commissioners propose giving Blazers owner $35m from different taxpayer pocket
The two Multnomah County commissioners who are trying to call a do-over on the county's proposed $100 million or so in spending toward $600 million in Portland Trail Blazers renovations have revealed ...
fieldofschemes.com
Amid chants of "Let us vote!", Kansas Citians expressed lots of questions about the Royals stadium project, starting with why the city is rushing this plan through after voters overwhelmingly rejected public stadium funding in 2024.
Hearing to get public feedback on Royals stadium shut down early after public gives too much feedback
Representatives of the Kansas City Royals and the Crown Center Redevelopment Corporation held a required public hearing on their rezoning proposals for a new Royals stadium complex yesterday, and and ...
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If Carlson actually uses his leverage as the swing vote to get significant concessions from Rays owner Patrick Zalupski, then that could make the stadium deal somewhat less wasteful, though it’s unlikely to shave much off the projected $2.1B total public cost.
Field of Schemes@fieldofschemes.bsky.social · last wk.Tampa councilmember Bill Carlson clearly wants to paint himself as both the defender of the public purse and the guy who'll get credit if a Rays stadium deal gets done. (Or blame! There is always the possibility of blame.)
Tampa councilmember Bill Carlson clearly wants to paint himself as both the defender of the public purse and the guy who'll get credit if a Rays stadium deal gets done. (Or blame! There is always the possibility of blame.)
Tampa council swing vote opens talks with Rays about his price for approving stadium deal
Anytime you have a one-vote margin on a stadium deal, as currently exists on the Tampa city council, you can expect to see team officials see what it'll take the peel off a swing vote to get themselve...
fieldofschemes.com
Some context regarding Moda Center renovations. The Trail Blazers $600 million request is larger than any recent/planned public contribution to an NBA/NHL arena renovation. It's not "market rate" or even reasonable. What Dundon is demanding is an outlier.
It looks like the Tampa council has no intention of approving their piece of Rays stadium financing. Team owner Patrick Zalupski should be fine so long as Florida can find $180m under the sofa cushions (or in Zalupski's bank accounts, ha ha, just kidding).
Friday roundup: Tampa council slams brakes on Rays stadium approvals, A’s find an investor (maybe sorta)
Lots of other news this week while we were off on Portland Trail Blazers watch: The Tampa city council has made two moves to throw the brakes on Tampa Bay Rays owner Patrick Zalupski's proposed $2 bil...
fieldofschemes.com
Dundon's site agreement says he can't "relocate or seek to relocate" Blazers home games until 2030, under penalty of everything up to a court injunction, and his arena lease says similar. So if Portland wants to play hardball for now, it appears it can.
Can Tom Dundon move the Blazers or not? Let’s read his lease and find out!
I didn't mean for this to be an all–Portland Trail Blazers week, but here we are. The latest news is that, on top of anonymous team officials saying they won't dignify the city's lease offer with a re...
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Blazers execs have introduced negging to the sports subsidy game, declaring Oregon taxpayers would get a "sweetheart deal" by only giving Tom Dundon $600m in exchange for no rent or property tax instead of him demanding even more.
Blazers execs to Oregon taxpayers: Consider yourself lucky to only be giving us $600m
Two days into the week, and Portland Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon's strategy for getting arena renovation money is becoming clear: Send team officials to talk to the media under cover of anonymity t...
fieldofschemes.com
This lease clause indicates that Dundon can't even seek to talk to other cities about moving the Blazers until 2030 — which would explain why he's biting his tongue now, but not so much why some Oregon officials (and sports columnists) are acting like signing a new lease is urgent.
Rockom Sockom NoBots@rockom.bsky.social · 2w agoIt's in writing and executed by both parties.
Portland officials still don't want to give away the store, Blazers owner Tom Dundon still wants them to. But with team execs refusing to say out loud where else Dundon might go, city officials are left bidding against ghosts.
How much will Portland officials give to Tom Dundon to keep him from moving the Blazers like he’s said he won’t?
Amid the ongoing staredown over $235 million in city and county funding for Portland Trail Blazers arena renovations, the news media dropped a slew of articles this weekend on the latest developments,...
fieldofschemes.com
Cleveland media keeps framing gateway repairs as a long term funding problem. It’s not. There already is a dedicated revenue stream. The problem is that the city agreed to overfund overimproved facilities. The city overspent relative to its revenue capacity. www.cleveland.com/opinion/2026...
After state politicians whiff on sin-tax vote, what's the solution for sports venue repairs?
For everyone involved in the dilemma of how to right-size funding for publicly owned stadium and arena repairs in Cuyahoga County, it’s important to remember that doing nothing would not be leadership...
cleveland.com
Again, you can't determine the economic impact of an event by looking at looking at scattered observations. The net effect is almost certainly small, and not necessarily positive. Look to actual research, not conjecture about what *might* be different.
‘I Never Want It to End’: The Surprise Economic Boost for World Cup Host Cities
As fears of a bust fizzled, venues including Philadelphia and Kansas City see increases in tourism.
wsj.com
After Hillsborough County Commission chair Ken Hagan said maybe the county will go ahead with a Rays stadium without $180m in city money, Tampa's city council chair somehow failed to ask Hagan not to threaten the city with a good time.
Friday roundup: Tampa plans for Rays keep going sideways; new stadium funding demands in Orlando, D.C.
Happy Friday to those of you who can see this through all the burning Canada! Everyone stay safe, mask up, and stay indoors to read the latest sports subsidy news, only most of which this week involve...
fieldofschemes.com
Raiding tax money that could otherwise go to upkeep of Chicago's train and bus stations so that a billionaire soccer owner and his $70B real estate developer partner can "reduce risk" doesn't sound great — unless you're a member of the billionaire class.
Chicago to vote on swiping $287m in tax money from next neighborhood over to fund Fire soccer stadium development
Last September, when the Chicago city council voted to approve a new Fire soccer stadium at the downtown The 78 site that had previously been considered for a White Sox stadium, I reported that "Fire ...
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Regardless of whether Portland can tap clean energy/development funds, it's still public money that won't be available for other needs. Still, committing to a Blazers arena next month without knowing how to pay the $120m bill is, let's go with "not great."
Portland could vote on $120m Blazers arena subsidy before knowing where money would come from, this should work out well
And speaking of "Approve sports spending first, work out the details later," this just in from Portland, Oregon regarding Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon's $600 million arena renovation request: As a d...
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It'll cost $60-62m/year in tax hikes to pay off Indiana's proposed $1B in stadium bonds — meaning any shortfall in tax revenue, and the state could have to scramble to raise additional taxes; ask Cuyahoga County how that's worked out for them.
Proposed Indiana tax hikes could fail to pay off $1B in Bears stadium bonds, leave taxpayers on hook for even more
Five months after the Indiana state legislature passed a funding bill for a Chicago Bears stadium that amounted to "What if we built an NFL stadium construction plan entirely out of handwaves?", the C...
fieldofschemes.com
if Blazers owner Tom Dundon doesn't want to put in toward the $600m in arena renovations he wants — currently his offer is "I pay taxes, why should I spend anything on arena renovations?" — then getting him to pay some rent seems like a reasonable demand.
Can Portland make Blazers owner pay a fair share of $600m arena renovation cost? The Oregonian investimagates
The Oregonian ran an incredibly long (by 2026 standards) article on Friday on the Portland Trail Blazers arena situation, including lots of useful information but thematically muddled to the point whe...
fieldofschemes.com
The issue about sports mega-events like the World Cup and the Olympics isn't whether they should exist, but whether they should exist in their current form, as means for extracting tons of money from host cities and delivering it to corrupt oligarchs.
Friday roundup: On being a fan of the World Cup without being a fan of the FIFA World Cup 2026™
Before we start with this week's roundup, a note about the World Cup: I'm enjoying it! The one-game knockout format, even in its dumb expanded iteration, is great for generating drama, and when you mi...
fieldofschemes.com
In today's Rays vaportecture, fans thrust their fists in the air and wave team flags, as one does at ballgames. Though they also may be cheering a passing lightning storm or high on the thrill of viewing a game with no netting, risking death by foul ball.
Rays stump for $2B stadium subsidy by releasing pictures of fans all raising fists in air at once
It's been a while since Tampa Bay Rays officials released any stadium renderings, and with talks on getting almost $2 billion in cash and tax breaks from the city and county seemingly on hold, no time...
fieldofschemes.com
On the bright side, Miami-Dade County got out of paying $400m in Marlins stadium bills in 2009, when it didn't have the money; on the less bright side, it now must pay more than twice as much over the next two decades, when it still doesn't have the money.
Building a Marlins stadium during the financial crisis is about to hit Miami with a tsunami of debt payments
Something I like to harp on here is that news articles that rage against governments still paying off stadiums after they've been torn down are missing the point: How to pay for a stadium, whether wit...
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A 3% rise in spending at local restaurants and bars isn't nothing in a city Toronto's size; the bigger problem is that local taxpayers spent about $380m on hosting six World Cup matches, which is tough to earn back one debit card charge at a time.
World Cup economic impact still hard to find, but at least we’ll always have the “togetherness”
The U.S. Men's National Team is now extremely out of the World Cup, joining co-hosts Canada and Mexico on the sidelines, but North America still has two more weeks of the sweet, sweet international to...
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The Bears losing $250m in Porter County taxes seems like a significant amount of money, though if county leaders balk at that, Gov. Braun could always compensate by running the state's omni-TIF tax diversion district all the way to the Ohio border.
Indiana gov to Porter County: If you want to miss out on fun of giving $250m in tax money to Bears, your loss
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun says he isn't sweating Porter County leaders' opposition to raising food and beverage taxes for a new Chicago Bears stadium the next county over, because really it's Porter Cou...
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Portland councilmember Steve Novick said Blazers owner Tom Dundon should agree to pay rent to convince holdouts to fund his arena, an interesting response to constituents saying "We don't want to do this even if pollsplained at that it's a good idea."
Friday roundup: Portlanders balk at giving Blazers owner $600m, KC gives initial okay of $235m to expand 2-year-old soccer stadium
Too damn hot! Gonna see how few words I can use today, to save electricity, y’know. That headline already caused voltage reductions across Brooklyn! A poll by two Portland city councilmembers found th...
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How many times do journalists need to be told: There's no law that just because somebody in a fancy suit issues a press release means you have to write about it. Especially when you ask to see the report the press release is about and are told, "No."
Chiefs owners claim report they won’t show you says stadium will create $8.4B in something or other
The Kansas City Chiefs (actually the owners of the Kansas City Chiefs, but journalists like to refer to team management metonymically this way, even though, like calling the current leadership of the ...
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A Royals stadium rezoning hearing is set for Aug. 19. K.C. Mayor Quinton Lucas wants all elements of the deal — including $1.35B or so in public funds — approved by November so he can forestall a possible ballot measure allowing voters to block the plan.
Royals prepare rezoning plan for new stadium district, even as $1.35B in public money remains up in air
Kansas City Royals execs have submitted a rezoning plan for their proposed new stadium development at Crown Center, which Fox4KC, citing the team's application, describes as "a vibrant mixed-use desti...
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