Here it comes…

[XBoxBoy]

The Chargers announced today that they would reopen negotiations with the city about a new stadium while keeping their option open to move to LA. This is gonna be the biggest case of welfare for the super rich you ever saw! Unfortunately so far Faulconer has shown embarrassingly bad negotiation skills, so I expect Spanos will get a sweet handout from the city. It amazes me that after all the stuff Spanos and the Chargers have done to screw the city of San Diego (can you say ticket guarantee?) that anyone would even consider a multimillion dollar subsidy to them. But here it comes folks…

XBoxBoy

[spdrun]

And hopefully the game will go on for another five years with nothing resolved. Not as if San Diego would be losing anything by not having a bunch of fat guys jumping each others’ bones.

San Diego doesn’t need a football team to be successful.

[FlyerInHi]

San Diego is well known to be unable to say no to big business figures.

For some history, Google C. Arnholdt Smith, connected to the padres and the stadium. He was once called Mr. San Diego because of his influence on the city.

Bearishgurl, do you have any recollection of such person in your time in San Diego?

[La Jolla Renter]

Agreed XBox.

What an amazing negotiating position Spanos has put himself in.

Faulconer, I’m a fan/supporter, but please stop with the news conferences every day that keep weakening the cities position. How does the old saying go… If your looking around the poker table for the sucker, YOU are the sucker.

The old ticket guarantee is going to look like a good deal compared to what the city is going to agree to.

[spdrun]

Does anyone other than the mayor have to approve this crap?

[La Jolla Renter]

The mayor somewhat tied his hands when he made a commitment that any deal with city money would have to go to San Diego voters.

That takes too much time… Time is money.

[spdrun]

So let the Chargers go to L.A., good riddance. It can barely be called a “sport” anyway.

Bringing it to the voters (who might not want to spend a lot of tax money to keep a stupid sport in their town) is the right thing to do.

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=spdrun]Does anyone other than the mayor have to approve this crap?[/quote]

Not positive on the details but I believe it depends on what gets proposed. If the funding for a new stadium includes tax increases to pay for it then it has to go to a vote. If there are no new taxes, (ie they take money from other city services) I think they (mayor & city council) can do it without a vote. I believe the last proposal from Faulconer to build a stadium next to the current Qualcomm stadium didn’t raise taxes so didn’t need a vote. But Spanos wants a different location and a better stadium.

[quote=spdrun]So let the Chargers go to L.A., good riddance. It can barely be called a “sport” anyway.

Bringing it to the voters (who might not want to spend a lot of tax money to keep a stupid sport in their town) is the right thing to do.
[/quote]

If it’s brought to a vote it’s unclear if it would pass or not, but my suspicion is that it will be put on a primary ballot with poor turnout. The rabid fans will show up, while the general populace will ignore the whole thing. The end result will be a huge handout, and Spanos and supports saying, “well you voted for it.”

Safer yet for the pro stadium crowd is to take money from city budget. Then when the populace gets upset about lack of basic services they can put a measure on the ballot asking to raise taxes to pay for stuff like police, firefighters, schools, roads, etc. That way Spanos gets his stadium and we get higher taxes.

Unfortunately too few people seem to understand the basic math of this. Spanos (even as rich as he is) can’t afford to build a couple billion dollar stadium without taxpayer dollars. And the only place taxpayer dollars come from is taxes. So despite all the hocus pocus and handwaving about how the stadium will be good for the economy it comes down to taxing the general populace and giving the money to a multi-millionaire.

[mike92104]

I’d like to push the limits of eminent domain laws and just take over the team. Personally if the city doesn’t own the team, I don’t care if they leave. The numbers don’t work out anyway.

[spdrun]

Why would the city want the team?

[livinincali]

[quote=spdrun]Why would the city want the team?[/quote]

NFL franchises are fairly profitable and probably worth 2+ billion with a new stadium. Green Bay Packers are public so their finances are available. They made almost 30 million in profit in 2014. Not that the city should want to own the team but it certainly doesn’t appear to be a net negative.

[XBoxBoy]

[quote=mike92104]I’d like to push the limits of eminent domain laws and just take over the team. Personally if the city doesn’t own the team, I don’t care if they leave. The numbers don’t work out anyway.[/quote]

Great solution!

[poorgradstudent]

[quote=spdrun]So let the Chargers go to L.A., good riddance. It can barely be called a “sport” anyway.

Bringing it to the voters (who might not want to spend a lot of tax money to keep a stupid sport in their town) is the right thing to do.[/quote]

They’re not likely to bring anything to the voters unless they think it can pass.

The Chargers are arguably in a worse negotiating position than they were before the decision to move the Rams came down. Being able to borrow the Ram’s stadium is not really what the Chargers had in mind when this whole game of musical chairs began.

I’m not totally against *some* public support for a new stadium, but I do feel like most cities get fleeced, and the “typical” deal is bad for tax payers.

[spdrun]

What’s the benefit of public support for a new stadium? San Diego’s economy it doing OK, and tourism in SD isn’t primary based on obese men jumping each others’ bones with more obese people watching.

If the Chargers want to leave, bring some REAL football to Qualcomm and never look back. Should be enough people in SD of the appropriate ancestry to enjoy that.

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