December 10, 2005
Lease Agreement
The Washington Nationals moved a step closer to building a new stadium yesterday as Major League Baseball and the D.C. government finished negotiations on a lease deal. The document still needs to be approved by the city council.
The mayor won concessions from MLB:
Under terms of the lease deal, baseball would give the city $20 million for stadium construction and a letter of credit that would cover Washington Nationals rent payments in case of a terrorist attack or players' strike.
Twenty million is a drop in the bucket. In exchange for that consession, MLB gets a share of the non-game day parking fees. In fact, the owners of the franchise get a very sweet deal:
The team would collect all stadium revenue other than non-game-day parking and advertising collected by the city during the 18 days the city could use the stadium for other events. And the Nationals would control all advertising on and inside the stadium and would receive all income from naming rights if a corporate sponsor paid to put its name on the ballpark.
If the stadium did not open by March 2008, the District would be required to pay penalties that could reach millions of dollars, depending on how much revenue the team lost during the delay.
The Nationals would pay an average of $5.5 million in rent during the 30-year lease and donate 8,000 tickets to city charities each season. In a statement, the city said it would control development rights on land outside the stadium and within the 21-acre footprint of the project. The lease agreement states that the Nationals and the city will "jointly evaluate . . . to attract economically viable commercial activity" south and east of the stadium.
The team can't move for 30 years, so the city is going to get about $165 million from the team. The ticket incentive is backwards, too. The Nationals have no reason to push beyond 2.5 million attendees, since they don't make as much money on tickets sold after that number is reached. Take the $1 out of the first 500,000 in attendance each year, then it would be worth it for the Nationals to push attendance higher.
I also believe the tax on utilities to finance the stadium will not go over well. Given the high price of oil, gas and electricity right now, tacking on more for a stadium isn't going to sit well with consumers. This project strikes me as a poor investment for the city. We'll see if the council feels the same way.
The council has scheduled a public hearing on the lease for 10 a.m. Tuesday. Those wishing to speak must register by 5 p.m. Monday.
Here's your chance to be heard on the issue. 10 A.M. Tuesday is an inconvenient time to schedule a public hearing. It makes me think they're trying to keep the public away.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:25 AM
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change the name back the expos
re: washington nationals
maybe they could tax marion barry's crack usage?
--arthur j kyriazis