Friday, October 05, 2007
Penguins Continue to Feather Their Nest
The Pittsburgh Penguins are proposing to put a practice rink into their new arena. The arena, being constructed primarily with the tax from slots machines as well as other assistance from taxpayers, should have been privately constructed. This new practice rink idea illustrates the point.
The arena could have been built with revenue bonds—bonds that would have been repaid with a percentage of revenues from things like concessions, tickets, luxury boxes, etc.—as had been done in Denver and Miami. The onus should have been on the team to make the facility profitable by aggressively marketing it to other events and adding restaurants and shops. But why take responsibility for something when politicians (through taxpayers) are willing to do it for you?
The practice rink is just another example on how this new facility could have paid for itself. As noticed by an expert in sports marketing, “ice sheets are in high demand, especially in urban areas around the country…hav(ing) an ice sheet where the professional team plays, it adds a lot to the cache to the venue, and you can charge a premium price.” The rink can be another money maker at the new arena. Instead of using this money to help pay for the facility, it will go into the team’s pockets—courtesy of the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.
The team will tout it as a “giving back” to the community and are willing to pay the extra cost of adding the rink to the new arena. If they really wanted to give back to the community, they can start by building their arena privately.
The arena could have been built with revenue bonds—bonds that would have been repaid with a percentage of revenues from things like concessions, tickets, luxury boxes, etc.—as had been done in Denver and Miami. The onus should have been on the team to make the facility profitable by aggressively marketing it to other events and adding restaurants and shops. But why take responsibility for something when politicians (through taxpayers) are willing to do it for you?
The practice rink is just another example on how this new facility could have paid for itself. As noticed by an expert in sports marketing, “ice sheets are in high demand, especially in urban areas around the country…hav(ing) an ice sheet where the professional team plays, it adds a lot to the cache to the venue, and you can charge a premium price.” The rink can be another money maker at the new arena. Instead of using this money to help pay for the facility, it will go into the team’s pockets—courtesy of the taxpayers of Pennsylvania.
The team will tout it as a “giving back” to the community and are willing to pay the extra cost of adding the rink to the new arena. If they really wanted to give back to the community, they can start by building their arena privately.
