Kansas Crimson

How stadium stuff works in Canada

One of my north-of-the-border subscribers hipped me to an article from the Globe and Mail in which Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro talks about the ongoing $400 million renovation of Rogers Centre. The framing of the article is about how, at a time when multiple U.S.-based sports teams are either getting or trying to get public money for renovations or entirely new stadiums — and when they are routinely threatening to move if they don’t get what they want — the company that owns the Blue Jays is paying for its stadium renovations itself.

In the article Shaprio just lays it all out matter-of-factly. It’s completely unrealistic to expect the Toronto or Ontario government to pay for such things, he notes, so Rogers Communications is simply doing math: a new stadium would cost $X, renovations would cost .3 to .5 of $X, expected revenue from improvements will bring in $Y, paying for themselves over Z years. Expected life of stadium renovations is Z + A years, etc. etc.

Given how long he’s been on the scene, I know a lot about how Mark Shapiro rolls. Based on that I am 100% certain that if he were with a U.S.-based team he'd be saying very different things. That said, he's nothing if not a hard-headed realist, particularly when it comes to numbers, both baseball and financial-related, and it's quite illuminating to see how a realist behaves with respect to stadium investments when public subsidies are not an option.

I’m pretty sure that this is how almost every U.S. based owner and executive would behave if they did not think they had a chance to sucker local politicians into underwriting them. They'd look at the costs, the revenues, and treat it like any other business treats its physical plant. Like big hotels and resorts handle renovations. How cruise lines decide when to renovate or when to sell for scrap and commission a new ship. The only reason we have this move-threatening and hostage-taking stuff here is because state and local politicians indulge it and almost always give the owners what they want in the end.

KUTradition wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 7:29 am no thoughts on the Negro Leagues news?

i think it’s fantastic, personally, but had no idea there were so many different Negro Leagues through history…good on MLB for taking the time to do due diligence to try and get the statistics “right”

KUTradition wrote: ↑Thu May 30, 2024 7:29 am no thoughts on the Negro Leagues news?

i think it’s fantastic, personally, but had no idea there were so many different Negro Leagues through history…good on MLB for taking the time to do due diligence to try and get the statistics “right”