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A new Wrigley scheme?

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Illinois

* The Sun-Times had an interesting scoop today…

Former Gov. Jim Thompson’s secret plan to have the state acquire and renovate Wrigley Field with “no taxes of any kind” may rely on a stadium financing scheme pioneered by former Democratic fund-raiser Lou Weisbach: equity seat rights.

It’s been touted as a revolutionary, fan-friendly way for teams to raise up to $500 million in cash to build new stadiums or renovate old ones without incurring debt.

Weisbach, a local entrepreneur who has traveled the world explaining the deal to sports owners, has described equity seat rights as the “antithesis” of personal seat licenses (PSLs), which have drawn the wrath of fans. […]

But with equity seat rights, there is no upfront fee. Instead, fans sign a long-term contract to buy a specific seat for a fixed price that’s locked in for the duration of the contract. A financial backer, acknowledging the fan’s ongoing financial commitment, then fr

That’s all well and good, but I’d still like to know how much tax revenue the state, county and municipal governments would lose with any potential sale. It’s not just a tax hike that matters, it’s lost tax revenues.

* Meanwhile, Mayor Daley babbled away as usual yesterday when asked about the Wrigley Field sale…

“I haven’t looked at it yet. I mean, it requires no tax money, no assistance from us, from the state or federal or local governments? I have an open mind on it but I don’t know all the particulars,” Daley said. “You don’t need the authorization of the General Assembly, the City Council – you don’t need authorization of the mayor, the governor, the president, no one? Tribune is a company that is owned privately and a publicly held company as well, in the sense that it’s a publicly held company. So it’s up to them to figure that out.” […]

Asked whether he thinks a Wrigley deal can be done, Daley said he doesn’t know.

“I’m not an expert on that. I just, you know, I don’t know the private, for-profit – in regards to that, this is all about money and making a profit. So it doesn’t bother me but that’s up to them,” the mayor said. […]

Asked Wednesday if he hoped that a deal could be reached over Wrigley, Daley could not resist noting that the newspaper and the stadium belong to the same master: “I don’t own the company. I have nothing to say about the company. And if I do, they won’t print it anyway.”

I would not relish covering that man every day.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, May 1, 08 @ 10:12 am

Comments

” … Daley babbled away as usual … ”

if your lips are moving, but there are no discernible nouns, verbs, or predicates, are you saying anything?

Comment by BannedForLife Thursday, May 1, 08 @ 11:40 am
Here’s some more interesting background on this:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/theworks/080103/

“My sources in the statehouse predict that Daley’s opposition will only be temporary. They expect the mayor to swap his support for the Wrigley Field deal in exchange for a Chicago casino and more state funding for the 2016 Olympics.”

Comment by elginite Thursday, May 1, 08 @ 12:45 pm
I’m not sure what’s so revolutionary about Weisbach’s proposal in regards to Wrigley.

If you’re going to the bankers, you could open the books for the past 10 years and show your gate and concessions as revenue streams to back the loans. You could use your season-ticket base as a demonstration of committed dollars. I don’t know that someone makes a “comittment” to buy a seat for X number of years is a stronger security.

Wait and see.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, May 1, 08 @ 12:49 pm
this is so shady.

the taxpayers are going to get taken to the cleaners in huge ways.

Comment by jerry 101 Thursday, May 1, 08 @ 1:28 pm
Just say no!
But if I were Daley, I’d be more than willing to trade my support for a Chicago casino.

There defintely is a method to Daley’s verbal contortions. It’s intentional sometimes when he doesn’t want to be specific.

Comment by Captain America Thursday, May 1, 08 @ 3:38 pm
There is no difference between equity seat rights and PSLs except that the latter take the money up front and therefore the revenue can be seen. In each, I take it, the owner of the seat has to pay the rate for season tickets to any and all events.

This appears to be a taxable event, but the seats have become personal property and not real property, so it appears that their value is deducted from the value of the stadium for real property assessment purposes. The revenue becomes income to the owner of the Stadium I don’t know the effect on taxable income.

Very interesting, but I am grasping at the nexus of this without knowing the actual facts.

Comment by Truthful James Thursday, May 1, 08 @ 4:04 pm
At the very minimum, the property tax dependent bodies will be losing their ’share’ from the park complex.

This of course would have to be reapportioned to the taxpayers.

So that is tax one.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Thursday, May 1, 08 @ 7:22 pm
Basically it seems like selling the seats to the fans then turning around and charge the fans for a ticket to get to the seats. Sounds like scalpers trying to be classy. Basically doubling the cost of a ticket. Talk about a suckers pitch.

Comment by zatoichi Thursday, May 1, 08 @ 8:35 pm