#Rays new stadium design upgrade

27, 2021.You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.ДЇor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser This article was first published in the Tampa Bay Times on Oct. Renaud Brossard is the Quebec Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. But they need to know that taxpayersвЂ™ wallets are off limits. If the Rays want to come and play in Montreal, weвЂ™ll be sure to give them a warm Canadian welcome. ThatвЂ™s why, when taxpayers were polled on this question, 60 per cent of them were opposed to subsidizing baseball in Montreal. Taxpayers already owe more than $50,000 each for the debt our provincial and federal governments have accumulated over the years.ДЄnd even if we did have the money, building a new ballpark would rank below fixing our roads, supporting our ailing health-care system or lowering what is the heaviest tax burden in North America. The province of Quebec, where Montreal is located, just doesnвЂ™t have hundreds of millions of bucks lying around.

So, the economic case simply isnвЂ™t there to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on it. ThatвЂ™s hardly worth the money, and thatвЂ™s with a full-time team. What about the tourism and the new jobs you ask? A study on the taxpayer-funded $225-million Camden Yards in Baltimore pegged the net annual economic benefit to the area at $3 million. presidential advisors for both parties were asked about it, only four per cent of them found that taxpayers might gain more than they lose when their money is used to subsidize pro-sports facilities. When top economists, including Nobel prize winners and former U.S. Their results are nearly unanimous that thereвЂ™s no substantial evidence of positive economic impacts associated with spending taxpayersвЂ™ hard-earned dollars on new professional-sports facilities. Then, thereвЂ™s the whole question of the economic benefits.Д®ven with a full-time team, the case for stadium subsidies doesnвЂ™t add up.Д®conomists have looked into it time and time again, under different ownership and subsidy structures. ThatвЂ™s a lot of money to spend on a facility that would be used for about 40 games per year. The three major league ballparks built in the last decade cost anywhere between $630 million and $1.2 billion each. ItвЂ™s not like you can build everything up until second base and call it quits.ДЄnd building those facilities can get outrageously expensive. If it were to happen, the Rays would play half the season in Tampa Bay - presumably in the Tropicana Field - and half the season in a new stadium near downtown Montreal.ДЄ part-time team is unprecedented, but building half a stadium is impossible. WhatвЂ™s currently being negotiated between Tampa Bay Rays owner Stuart Sternberg and Montreal billionaire Stephen Bronfman would be a team-sharing agreement. The first problem is that it doesnвЂ™t make sense to build a whole new stadium for half of a ball season. But weвЂ™re not going to let them treat themselves to our wallets just so they can build a shiny new stadium. WeвЂ™d love to see them play some games in Montreal. ThatвЂ™s how taxpayers in Montreal feel about the Tampa Bay Rays.

Montrealers are happy to welcome new neighbours with a bagel basket or a case of beer, but weвЂ™re not buying them a new hot tub.