NFL Merry-Go-Round: Relocation Roundelay

[dont care]

On 2/25/2022 at 5:21 PM, TBGKon said:

Except that FedExField is currently in Landover, Maryland.

And they are actively trying to move out of there to Virginia…

[Dilbert]

So are the NFL trying to pull off the 2000s MLS move and have everybody build new stadiums in the suburbs?

[The_Admiral]

I don't think it's a top-down initiative. I do think people are becoming allergic to cities again and starting a new cycle of white flight, which is about the last thing we need but we're doin' it anyway. Also, Virginia has been courting the team for years and years now -- they've been getting a little fussy about being the largest state without a sports team, and this would be the one to get. I don't like it, but some of the most enormous evildoers in the world are already based in Northern Virginia, so what's one more?

[tBBP]

14 hours ago, Dilbert said:

So are the NFL trying to pull off the 2000s MLS move and have everybody build new stadiums in the suburbs?

Not hardly--if anything, the NFL (and I would think most of the other top pro leagues as well) would love nothing less than to have each of its teams' stadia in or as close to its respective cities' centers as possible. Of course, in some places, like DC, that's just not possible due to lack of space, so some clubs make do with where they can find space and townspeople gullible enough willing to give up their moola and Civic greenspace for a brand new shiny playplace. I don't know if thats the deal with Chicago and Arlington Heights other than it being a more affluent area (that's some of that Atlanta Braves logic for ya), but beyond that, I doubt the NFL would want any more of its new(er) buildings out in BFE somewhere if it can help it (Unless Inglewood is your idea of BFE in relation to LA proper). 

 

Speaking of this, I've seen chatter some some folk in the Nashville area that are pushing the idea of the Titans building a new stadium in Franklin. Like, really?? (For the uninitiated, Williamson County in general, and Franklin in particular, 20 miles south of downtown Nashville, is where just about all the celebs live in the Nashville area--well there, Brentwood, or probably somewhere in Belle Meade.) That'd be about one of the most absolute dumbest moves possible and yet, I wouldn't totally count it out of reason if enough people with enough money power press the issue hard enough. Then again, considering some of the dumb stuff I observed while living there, nothing would surprise me. (Remember this is the city that put itself $34M into the hole trying to transform itself into "It City USA".) 

 

Of course if none of that works out, there's plenty of land to build a new stadium in and around, oh say, LITTLE ROCK....  

[The_Admiral]

29 minutes ago, tBBP said:

I don't know if thats the deal with Chicago and Arlington Heights other than it being a more affluent area (that's some of that Atlanta Braves logic for ya)

 

I'd call Arlington Heights solidly middle-class, and not even particularly that white (but then again the jury's out on Asians and Jews), but lots of Bears fans are really excited about the messaging of somehow punishing Chicago, as if to lose the Bears is to get what they deserve for having black people. 

[rams80]

I think the suburban push is being driven a little by the core cities catching on to how stadia look to be net money losers for civic coffers and them "nope"ing out of shelling out hundreds of millions of dollars for buildings with a shelf life of 3 decades.

[Luigi74]

18 hours ago, the admiral said:

 

I'd call Arlington Heights solidly middle-class, and not even particularly that white (but then again the jury's out on Asians and Jews), but lots of Bears fans are really excited about the messaging of somehow punishing Chicago, as if to lose the Bears is to get what they deserve for having black people. 

Isn't the main reason the Bears are looking to build out there is their desire to build a massive stadium complex like the Rams did? There's no way they could ever do that at the Solider Field site unless they build a massive pier out into Lake Michigan.

[leopard88]

On 2/25/2022 at 5:46 PM, Dynasty said:

Both Dulles and Woodbridge are hell of a distance, but I don't know how realistic it would be to have them close enough to D.C.. Anything from there to Fairfax is largely congested and I'd think they'd want to make it close enough to an airport for visiting teams to not get stuck in the congestion.

 

BWI is on the southwest side of Baltimore (about 28 miles from FedEx Field), so it would also be in the mix if the team stayed in Maryland.

 

As it is now, I think a lot of visiting teams fly into BWI and stay at a hotel in College Park owned by the University of Maryland, which is about 15 minutes away.

For the Giants and Eagles, there is an Amtrak station about 3 miles from FedEx Field.  I know the Ravens have taken the train for short trips, but I don't know if the Eagles and Giants do.

[dont care]

1 hour ago, leopard88 said:

 

BWI is on the southwest side of Baltimore (about 28 miles from FedEx Field), so it would also be in the mix if the team stayed in Maryland.

 

As it is now, I think a lot of visiting teams fly into BWI and stay at a hotel in College Park owned by the University of Maryland, which is about 15 minutes away.

For the Giants and Eagles, there is an Amtrak station about 3 miles from FedEx Field.  I know the Ravens have taken the train for short trips, but I don't know if the Eagles and Giants do.

I think they are trying to get away from Baltimore, not even closer to it

[spartacat_12]

On 2/23/2022 at 7:43 PM, neo_prankster said:

Has anyone heard about the Titans possibly trying to get a new stadium in Nashville?

 

I'm kinda shocked because Nissan Stadium still feels kinda new even though it opened in 1999 and it's now 2022.

 

It sounds like the costs to renovate Nissan would be extremely high, so it might make more sense to just build a new stadium. And as previously mentioned, a new building would likely land them a Super Bowl.

 

On 2/26/2022 at 11:20 PM, Dilbert said:

So are the NFL trying to pull off the 2000s MLS move and have everybody build new stadiums in the suburbs?

 

Well compared to the other major sports, it's easier to sell football fans on suburban stadiums. People are willing to make a trip once every couple of weeks, usually on the weekend, and having parking lots for tailgating is always appealing. 

[GDAWG]

On 2/26/2022 at 10:20 PM, Dilbert said:

So are the NFL trying to pull off the 2000s MLS move and have everybody build new stadiums in the suburbs?

 

Early in the 2000's the Cowboys announced plans to build a stadium in Fair Park in Dallas, but that didn't work out and a lot of people blame former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller for that.  They instead became next door neighbors to the Texas Rangers.  

[The_Admiral]

LOOK AT ALL THIS SURFACE PARKING! And this is America's hottest new city? Schaumburg with bars

[SFGiants58]

3 minutes ago, the admiral said:

Schaumburg with bars

It’s the city’s biggest cultural contribution.

[Cosmic]

On 2/25/2022 at 10:07 AM, ltjets21 said:

I anticipate the Bills to hit some roadblocks with this stadium as nobody in the New York State government is going to pony up any public money for a stadium.

I think you're going to be surprised, and soon. The governor is from WNY, and the state politicians like to play up that "only NY team" thing. There's been more chatter lately. Some rough numbers are getting tossed around. The mayor of Buffalo was just on the news talking about it basically like past tense why it won't be in the city, when I wasn't aware they had officially picked a site. I think you're going to see a deal announced soon to build the new stadium in the parking lot of the old one.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I'm against publicly funded stadiums.

 

I make an exception for the Bills, who never have nice things happen to that fanbase.

[ltjets21]

46 minutes ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

I'm against publicly funded stadiums.

 

I make an exception for the Bills, who never have nice things happen to that fanbase.

I agree but I feel like financially it actually makes sense specifically in an area like Buffalo or Cincinatti.  I'm no expert but id think the Bills games bring a great amount of revenue to that area. 

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

On 3/9/2022 at 11:34 AM, ltjets21 said:

I'm no expert but id think the Bills games bring a great amount of revenue to that area. 

 

According to Neil deMause, no stadiums ever create new revenue; they just redirect spending from one part of the economy to another, a phenomenon which deMause has dubbed "the replacement substitution effect", and which is supported by multiple economic studies.

 

There is an oft-quoted quip from an economist on the efficacy of using public money to boost a local economy that says that, if you want to inject money into a local economy, it's better to drop that money from a helicopter than to invest it in a new ballpark.

 

[Dilbert]

3 hours ago, ltjets21 said:

I agree but I feel like financially it actually makes sense specifically in an area like Buffalo or Cincinnati.  I'm no expert but id think the Bills games bring a great amount of revenue to that area. 

FTFY

 

Also I can tell you right now, Nobody in Cincinnati wants their tax dollars being used to build new stadiums after the fiasco of the Bengals and Reds stadiums. Its the reason why FC Cincinnatis stadium was privately funded and why we cant get a replacement for the Riverfront Coliseum The Crown Firstar Center US Bank Arena   Herritage BankCenter

[Cosmic]

12 hours ago, DG_ThenNowForever said:

I'm against publicly funded stadiums.

 

I make an exception for the Bills, who never have nice things happen to that fanbase.

I would love some kind of federal action to stop the race to the bottom, but here we are. My guess is that the state and county money will come from amorphous slush funds, so it just kind of feels like Monopoly money. I doubt there's going to be a special sales tax or a "stadium" line on my property taxes, so whatever, I guess.

[gosioux76]

On 3/9/2022 at 11:33 AM, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

 

According to Neil deMause, no stadiums ever create new revenue; they just redirect spending from one part of the economy to another, a phenomenon which deMause had dubbed "the replacement effect", and which is supported by multiple economic studies.

 

There is an oft-quoted quip from an economist on the efficacy of using public money to boost a local economy that says that, if you want to inject money into a local economy, it's better to drop that money from a helicopter than to invest it in a new ballpark.

 

 

I'm not an economist, just a skeptic, so I'm not really qualified to question deMause' analysis. I can see how this theory works in a region like, say, Los Angeles or Seattle, where the options for local entertainment are in multitudes. But I'd question whether the same is true for a place like Buffalo, where there aren't as many alternatives, and where the team is very much a cultural institution rather than a part of the surrounding noise. 

 

I'm not suggesting investing in a stadium is a good use of public funds, I just don't think it's as much of a black-and-white issue for communities like Buffalo that identify so closely with their teams.