Baseball in D.C. on Verge of Collapse
Expos’ Move to D.C. on Verge of Collapse (AP)
Washington’s new baseball team shut down business and promotional operations indefinitely Wednesday as its move to the nation’s capital teetered on the brink of collapse. The decision by major league baseball followed the District of Columbia Council’s decision Tuesday night to require private financing for at least half the cost of building a new stadium. The September agreement to move the Montreal Expos to Washington called for a ballpark fully financed by government money. “Yes, I think baseball is now in jeopardy,” Mayor Anthony A. Williams said.
A previously scheduled news conference to unveil new uniforms was called off and fans who bought tickets to watch the renamed Nationals next season at RFK Stadium can get refunds, said Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer. Baseball will not resume talks with other cities until after Dec. 31, the deadline in the agreement for Washington to put a ballpark financing law in place. “In the meantime, the club’s baseball operations will proceed, but its business and promotional activities will cease until further notice,” DuPuy said. He did not address where the team would play its 2005 home schedule if the deal with Washington falls through. It remains unclear whether baseball would move the franchise to RFK Stadium on a temporary basis, remain at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium or go to another city.
*** Some of the communities that had lost out in the bidding for the team prepared to resume their efforts to lure the franchise. “I don’t think we’ve ever stopped,” Norfolk group head Will Somerindyke Jr. said. “We always wanted to keep this area an option. If the opportunity arises for the Expos again, we are going to be standing there along with everyone else. “Whether we could get something done by next year, I think that’s a stretch,” he added. “It would be very, very tough.” Somerindyke’s organization has returned the deposits it collected on nearly 10,000 season tickets and almost 100 luxury boxes during its drive to get the Expos. He didn’t think it would be difficult to get those deposits back. Officials in Portland, Ore., were uncertain how to interpret the developments. “We need to wait to see how Major League Baseball assesses this so we can respond,” said Drew Mahalic of the Oregon Sports Authority. Northern Virginia’s group had hoped to build a ballpark near Dulles International Airport. “We hope that the District of Columbia will be able to fulfill the terms of its agreement and succeed in bringing Major League Baseball back to this region,” Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority spokesman Brian Hannigan said. Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman went to baseball’s winter meetings last weekend trying to attract attention to his efforts to lure a team. But he could not offer a firm stadium plan. “It’s just a glint in my eye, at this point,” he said.
Major League Baseball is definitely not playing around here.
crosspost to SportsBlog and DCB
Kudos to the DC City Council for embracing the wisdom of the free market in this case.
If I were a business owner, I would love it if a local government agreed to foot the bill for half of my capital expenditures.
The arrogance of owners of sports teams and leagues in demanding public welfare for their very profitable businesses is appalling.
DC Council might deserve kudos if they had been forthright about their intentions. Instead of rejecting the stadium bill, they imposed conditions that they know full well will never be met. They wasted months of everyone’s time and effort. DC took the opportunity from Northern Virginia based on a commitment to baseball to comply with certain terms. Now they’ve reneged on those terms. Even if they’re right on the economics (and they probably are), there is absolutely nothing praiseworthy here in the actions of Ms. Copps.