Field of Schemes

Fieldofschemes.com serves as the online partner to the book Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money Into Private Profit, authored by Joanna Cagan and Neil deMause. Since its inception in 1998, the website has focused on scrutinizing the approximately $2 billion annually allocated in public funds for the construction of new professional sports venues.

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Missouri governor tries to pass last-second bill to pay for 50% of all stadiums with state tax money

2 days ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

Hey, remember way back yesterday morning when a Missouri state senator was trying to sneak through a last-minute bill to provide Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman with $200 million toward a new stadium? Well, forget all that, because yesterday afternoon, Missouri Gov.
How Denver’s $70m expense for an NWSL stadium could turn into $200m+ in tax money

3 days ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

The Denver city council voted 11-1 yesterday to approve spending $70 million on land for a stadium for an NWSL women’s soccer team … sort of. The land purchase will move forward, but the stadium itself will face several additional votes in the fall after the council gets more details about the plans and about whether the economy has gone in the crapper by then:“It’s a dicey time,” said Councilman Paul Kashmann, who voted yes.
Last-minute bill would fund $200m worth of North KC stadium that Royals owner may not even want

3 days ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

The Missouri state legislature is “facing a Friday deadline to approve a plan to keep the Kansas City Royals’ new ballpark on the Missouri side,” reports KMBC, and wait, what? Last we heard, Royals owner John Sherman was still kicking the tires on whether to look at a stadium site in North Kansas City or one in downtown Kansas City that the giant QR code wants or maybe something across the state line in Kansas somewhere, and now there’s suddenly a deadline this Friday? For what, exactly?
How many billions of dollars would a Commanders stadium subsidy be? An investimagation

4 days ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

I had a long chat with University of Colorado Denver economist Geoffrey Propheter on Friday to try to nail down exactly how much the total subsidy — in government cash, discounted land, and tax breaks — would be for D.C.’s proposed Washington Commanders stadium.
Friday roundup: D.C. poll shows public support for spending fraction of what Commanders stadium would actually cost

1 week ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

It’s been another long week in what feels like an endless series of long weeks, complete with the most expensive stadium subsidy demand ever and whatever the hell this was and a new pope, so let’s all take a moment to relax by watching a major league baseball player get hit on the head with a pop fly. I watched it four times in a row before writing this post, there’s something remarkably soothing about it, provided you’re not Chase Meidroth or his team physician.
Commanders stadium could cost D.C. taxpayers $13B including land discount, this is getting ridiculous

1 week ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

What’s been going on with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed Washington Commanders deal since we last checked in a week ago, you ask? Let’s recap recent developments. After I guesstimated the total subsidy including tax breaks and free land at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion, sports economist and property tax expert Geoffrey Propheter did his own calculations and projected that the land discount alone could be worth $11 billion.
Vikings execs want $20m a year in tax money for upgrades of 9-year-old stadium

1 week ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

Hey, remember how the state of Minnesota approved using revenues from electronic pulltab gambling (basically bingo apps on iPads) to help fund $500 million in Vikings stadium expenses back in 2012, and then e-pulltab gambling initially didn’t get off the ground, so state legislators had to raid a fund of tobacco tax money instead?
D-Backs rep says MLB could pull spring training from Arizona if no stadium deal, then says that’s not what he meant

1 week ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

Arizona Diamondbacks execs have been putting a full-court press on state legislators to secure their desired $500 million stadium renovation subsidy, as the legislative session enters its final weeks. And shit?
Royals’ expiring lease may not be the stadium leverage John Sherman pretends it is

1 week ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman has been publicly demanding a new stadium for two and a half years now, and one argument he has made is that the team’s future needs to be resolved by the time its lease runs out after the 2030 season. The traditional way for news outlets to address this is with one line somewhere deep in every article warning that the city faces a “deadline” in the form of the expiring lease.
Friday roundup: Ohio senate leader says damn the analysts’ warnings, full speed ahead on Browns’ $1.2B subsidy

2 weeks ago | fieldofschemes.com | Neil deMause |personNeil deMause

Nothing like a week that starts out with a plan for a $1.147 billion stadium subsidy deal and ends with it somewhere well north of $2 billion. But the Washington Commanders horror show wasn’t the only news of the week, so let’s dive in and see what else has been going down:How are Ohio state legislative leaders taking the news that two different state budget analysts have said that the numbers on a proposed $1.2 billion Cleveland Browns stadium subsidy look terrible?