Let's face it

Let’s face what is euphemistically called the "small market" problem of some teams in the National Basketball League.  Let’s face the facts - which are sometimes hard to come by.

To start with, yesterday’s morning paper ran a front page, above-the-fold story which said that the Simon brothers "built" Conseco Fieldhouse.  Not true.  The taxpayers built the fieldhouse.

If a charitable assumption is made that the reporter is, 1) new to the city, and 2) reprinting material from a random press release without checking it, we are still unable to understand how such a factual error passed any semblance of copy check.

This morning’s paper carries 2 corrections on page A2.  Neither refers to this material.  The offending wording does not appear in the on-line version of the story.

This morning’s paper also carries a story - on Page C4 - concerning NBA finances resulting from the recent labor agreement.  Approximately one third of about 15 column inches of the story tells us of the continued need of the Pacers basketball team for taxpayer subsidy.

The story admits that we are completing a donation of $33.5 million over a 3-year period from the Capital Improvement Board to the Pacers.  (This paragraph does refer to the CIB "owning" the building, without reference as to how that came about.)

One of the owners is quoted as saying, "It’s never been the Pacers are losing money.  Part of the reason we’re losing money is because we’re having these arena expenses that most other teams don’t have to deal with."  The implication is that the taxpayer is facing an-ongoing subsidy of at least $10 million annually forever.

Professional basketball is a business.  The Pacers team is a business.  An entertainment business.  In Indianapolis it is a business that operates in a $170+ million dollar palace for which it pays $1 annual rent, but which generates not one penny of property tax revenue.  The team receives all revenue generated by the building, basketball and non-basketball.

One thing appears to be quite obvious.  Professional basketball has priced itself into oblivion.  The owners of the local team are brilliant businessmen who own and operate shopping malls all over the world.  When a mall becomes an economic problem, they get rid of it.  Apparently it is assumed that they have covered multiple annual Pacer losses out of good will toward the city, but now can no longer afford to do so.

Considering the current financial situation of the city - to say nothing of the fact that there is serious consideration of assuming another half billion dollars worth of debt for transit improvements - it is fantasy, bordering on lunacy, to suggest the taxpayers take on this continuing, and probably ever increasing, burden.

We suggest Indianapolis give it’s heartfelt thanks to the owners for their contribution to the city, and also give them every assistance in trying to find a way to get rid of this economic white elephant.

We would then further suggest that some part of next year’s $10 million be dedicated to financing an aggressive program designed to book other events into the fieldhouse.  Events which would generate much needed municipal revenues.

Comments

[Leslie Baker]

It does seem as if it should have been obvious to the Simons years ago that they should have gotten out of sports and stayed with malls, but if people kept handing ME millions of dollars to continue to run a business into the ground, I'd be awfully tempted to take it, too....but I'd like to think I have a better conscience than that.

[Purple rain]

Since we own the arena, and they like to dump stuff and stop paying mortgages and the like, why don't they just let the fans / citizens take over the team; we couldn't run it any worse and they wouldn't have this immense burden to deal with anymore.

[Vox Populi]

The we are losing money is hogwash, since no one in the NBA is opening their books all we have is the owners statements. But somehow I know that the kind hearted folks down at the CIB will do their best to end this injustice to our poor billionaire owners. The only questions that remain are; how much is this going to cost us now and when do they get their next infusion of free money.