The Rangers want to build a retractable roof ballpark:
The Rangers appear destined for a new stadium.
And sooner than you think.
According to two major league sources, the Rangers and City of Arlington are about to announce plans for a new retractable-roof stadium that is expected to come on line earlier than the current lease expires following the 2023 season. An announcement could come as soon as Friday.
It is uncertain how far ahead of the 2024 season the new stadium could be opened — or how it would be financed — but getting into a new retractable-roof stadium ahead of time is likely to significantly increase the value of the club and add multiple years of new revenue streams.
Stadiums don’t seem to be lasting as long as they did once. I sort of understood why the Twins wanted a new park, but the Rangers and Braves are giving up modern stadiums.
I don’t have much sympathy for the Braves desire for a new park, but I can at least understand they were dealt an awkward hand in adapting a stadium from the Olympics and it was not designed as a baseball park first. But the Rangers? Come on. That park was custom built for them with a sweetheart land deal and has all the modern amenities. It’s obnoxious.
I wonder how close we’re coming to the day when people are just going to say no. “You want a new ballpark? Fine. Go build one. But we’re not going to pay for it.”
I am hoping that Arlington says no- The park is an oven in the summer, but every place in Texas is (and many other places) I wonder if the Rangers’ owners are against Government subsidies/handouts and higher taxes?
The one legal form of extortion that exists is the way that private businesses (unfortunately it is not just sports) will force cities and states to given them all sorts of benefits. Meanwhile the business don’t want to let the government have any say in how the business is run…