…And Last in the American League

The return of big-league ball to Washington, D.C. may be a boon to Heine Manush fans everywhere.

But it's also a massive ripoff for everyone else. And that's even before the newborn team hits the field and starts sucking (as they almost certainly will). One promising sign: The still-to-be-finalized deal between the team and the city is already being attacked as the corporate welfare that it is. Reader Neil Hrab points to this piece in Counterpunch:

How a couple dozen of the richest men in the United States got one of the most impoverished cities in the Western Hemisphere to give them $440 million, is already being called the "swindle of the century." It's the biggest heist since the Monorail came to Springfield on 'The Simpsons'. Just to compare, the St. Louis Cardinals' franchise is paying 77 percent of a $387 million stadium now under construction. The Detroit Tigers are paying for 62 percent of their $327 million stadium. In DC, the city picks up every penny.

Whole thing here.

Here's a compendium of old Reason pieces about stadium subsidy shams. These pieces date back to the late '90s, but sadly, the arguments made therein continue to apply.