Ah, the pieces of another tawdry Government-Sport Baron Complex puzzle just might be starting to come into better focus. And the public kitty likely will pay a steep price. Yet again.
The Pittsburgh Business Times sets the Second Act, Scene I, of this “public-purpose” tragedy in reporting how Dan Rooney III would “like to help American football make an even bigger impact on the country his family came from.”
For those who haven’t heard, the National Football League has given the Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars marketing rights to Ireland. The “big goal,” Rooney told the Business-Times, is to bring a regular-season game to the Emerald Isle.
Larry McCarthy, president of the Gaelic Athletic Association, told the business publication there “is still plenty to figure out, but we’re delighted to be associated with the Steelers and the Rooneys. It’s a famous brand and a wonderful family.
McCarthy likened it to the “start of a long dance.” With government officials jamming both hands into the back pockets of the public as they do the ol’ one-two, one-two, one-two.
Back to Act I, Scene the First:
You’ll recall that this summer, junketeers from Allegheny County government and those in the business community flew to Ireland to lobby Aer Lingus to begin direct service between Pittsburgh and Dublin.
Dublin, of course, is where the Steelers and Jags would play any football games, in Croke Park.
And the entreaty came with, apparently, public-money consideration.
Irish media reports that millions of dollars in “incentives” are being dangled before Aer Lingus.
The Allegheny County Airport Authority, frequently criticized for bribing airlines to fly into Pittsburgh International – with some taking the money and running and/or failing after (or even before) public subsidies end – isn’t commenting much about that part of any prospective deal.
But Allegheny County Chief Executive Rich Fitzgerald told the same Irish media this:
“We’ve been having those discussions, and we had the same kind of discussions as we had with British Airways (BA) when we got that [London route] underway.
“Our state government has been very supportive, as has the Biden administration,” he said.
The BA deal was about $3.5 million in public money. And if the incentive deal struck by Cleveland to win direct-to-Dublin flights is any indicator — $12 million over three years from the private “economic development” company that took over Ohio’s liquor sales – a big “UH-OH” could be on the horizon at PIT.
By the way, Jake Haulk, president-emeritus of the Allegheny Institute, reminds that “all the money spent on BA has failed dramatically to lift [PIT’s] international passenger count to the 2019 levels.”
“And in August, they lagged nearly 50 percent behind the 2018 posting,” the Ph.D. economist notes.
Yet, county government officials have been snapping their braces overtime talking about what an absolute boon the Aer Lingus Pittsburgh-Dublin route would be to the local economy.
“There’s an awful lot of demand from both ways,” Fitzgerald told Irish media this summer. “Pittsburgh has really become a huge technology and robotics institute.
“The fact that you’ve got nine UPMC operations [in Ireland] — that ‘P’ stands for Pittsburgh. BNY Mellon, which is one of the largest financial transaction processors in the world, also has a major operation in both places. So do many of our law firms, Kraft Heinz, and so many different organizations,” he said.
But if that demand is so great, why the “need” for public subsidies? There is none. If that demand is so off the charts, all the organizations that Fitzgerald mentions – and those not mentioned – plus the Steelers and their fans should be covering the flight’s costs, right?
But wait, there’s more.
Irish media also report that PIT is seeking to expand its international footprint beyond Ireland and any deal with AER Lingus would help it do so.
But even a casual commentator says AER Lingus “is probably the absolute worst choice [to develop connectivity] among all European flag carriers.”
So, PIT (i.e., the public) will be paying a premium to help it secure “the absolute worst” in that metric?
Oh, and lest we forget, it’s quite worth repeating that the Airport Authority will claim – unless it’s direct state and/or federal tax dollars that fund any Aer Lingus flights – that either no tax dollars or no local taxpayer dollars are being used.
While that is fallacious on its face, the simple fact remains that the Airport Authority is a public authority and any dollars it receives and/or disburses are public dollars by that very nature.
The bottom lines remain these:
If Aer Lingus wants to fly between Dublin and Pittsburgh, this profit-seeking enterprise should assess the profit-potential and risk its own money and its own money alone instead of suckling at the taxpayer teat.
If any Pittsburgh business entity wants the flights – whether it be a well-endowed university’s medical center, a very wealthy big bank or the very rich and profitable barons of sport, not to forget law firms and a giant food conglomerate – it should show its support by buying tickets.
There should be no tolerance for expecting public dollars to relieve these entities of their responsibility in pursuit of becoming economic free riders.
Sucker-punching those you so steadfastly claim to “serve” by constantly turning out their pockets must no longer be tolerated. And those who constantly pimp for such paid services should be called out for what they are – common trollops.
Colin McNickle is communications and marketing director at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinstitute.org).
