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CLEVELAND, Ohio – There will be people who dislike the terms of the new lease agreement between tribal owner Paul Dolan, Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland and the State of Ohio.
Some will be angry and say taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for the $ 435 million deal to extend the lease for at least 15 years to keep the Major League Baseball team in Cleveland.
This is a complicated deal with the funding breaking down like this:
1. $ 150 million from the Dolan.
2. $ 138 million from Cuyahoga County.
3. $ 117 million from Cleveland.
4. Ohio State $ 30 million.
There will be doubts in all directions, including some who think the team needs a new stadium with a roof.
But who was going to pay for it in this economy in Cleveland?
And there will be others who will insist, “If the team doesn’t pay for everything, let them go.
Does Cleveland Really Want To Lose Their Baseball Team?
Cleveland / Akron is the 19th largest media market in the country. It’s the smallest with NFL, NBA, and MLB teams.
If you are considering using public funds for businesses like sports venues, an MLB team offers around 81 home dates each season. More if there are playoffs.
An arena with an NBA team has 41 home dates in most years, as well as many other events.
The worst investment is a football stadium, with around 10 games (preseason and regular season) per year plus a few other events.
I yawn when officials estimate how many billions of dollars a professional team or a big event is worth to a city. They guess and often use very creative math. But professional sports, concerts, etc. bring in a lot of money in terms of taxes and benefit businesses. It is common sense.
THE NAME CHANGE, THE TEAM
I’ve received numerous emails insisting that the tribe is about to relocate, in part because Dolan’s ownership changed the nickname to The Guardians for the 2022 season.
It sounded good, but if you plan to move a team, you keep the old name and change it when you move. Or at least you should, or you end up with weird combinations like the Utah Jazz (once New Orleans) and the Memphis Grizzlies (once Vancouver).
You can criticize the Dolans for their small payroll, especially this season.
But their commitment to Cleveland has been strong during their 21 years of franchise ownership. As Paul Dolan said when announcing the name change, this is a Cleveland family of five generations.
He wasn’t going to be the guy who would move the baseball team and make history with Art Modell for shipping the Browns from the NFL to Baltimore.
BETTER TT THAN LATE
The tribe still had two years (2022/2023) on the current lease.
The team worked hard with the various public entities to build a new lease to cool down speculation about leaving, rather than dragging it out.
It is a pure compromise. When this happens, no one on either side tends to be completely satisfied.
This is the nature of compromise.
This is also how big problems like this are often solved.
Politicians in the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County have yet to approve the deal. There will be stormy rhetoric before this is settled.
But at the end of the day, most reasonable people should see the importance of keeping the MLB franchise in Cleveland – and this new lease makes it possible.
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