Another Troubled City, Another Subsidized Stadium To the Rescue
Perpetually broke Hartford bets big-and stupid-on minor-league ballpark.
Can a taxpayer-subsidized ballpark spark enough economic development not only to pay for itself but to revive an urban dead zone in one of America's poorest cities?
That's the big bet the city of Hartford, Connecticut has decided to make.
Currently under construction, the 6,000-seat Dunkin' Donuts Park will be home to the Yard Goats, a double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. A study commissioned by the city council estimates the ballpark could generate over $350 million in economic growth—turning a stretch of parking lots and vacant buildings into a vibrant residential neighborhood. Hartford hasn't seen that kind of development in decades.
So if development will come, why not have the city and taxpayers build it? For starters, the stadium is already $10 million over budget and almost two months behind schedule. Homeless on opening day, the Yard Goats will have to play on the road until May 31st.
For most other cities, these delays and cost overruns would be more of an embarrassment than a crisis. But Hartford is running out of cash. Last year, the city endured a debt downgrade and cuts in municipal services. Mayor Luke Bronin has already announced hiring and spending freezes in the wake of longstanding municipal deficits.
Add to the mix Hartford's longstanding struggles with deep poverty and crime, and many are left wondering why the city is spending money on a ballpark in the first place.
Critics fear the development won't materialize, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the debt-financed $66-million stadium. As Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie asked, "Why should the people of Hartford—many of whom are very, very poor—why should this burden be placed on them?"
The ballpark's boosters see a calculated bet, not a burden. Economic projections include over a thousand permanent jobs, a brewery, new retail, and over a hundred new residential units. Already, Hard Rock International has committed to building a hotel opposite the ballpark.
"I see the stadium as a catalyst for economic development in a neighborhood that has not had any investment in years, and believe the state should participate," State Senator John Fonfara told the Hartford Courant in March.
"This is what's going to help turn Hartford around," University of Connecticut economist Fred Carstensen told Reason TV, "and it's clearly the kind of big bet that we make."
Carstensen, who was commissioned by the Hartford city council to study the effects of a ballpark, acknowledges that the ballpark by itself is a money loser. His analysis, Economic Impacts on Hartford of Developing Downtown North, shows how the stadium will generate new development and more than pay for itself—but just barely, under the best of circumstances.
"When you've got all the pieces in place, then they come out ahead," he says. "Not by a lot. I mean, this is not some kind of a big win. But the question was: How do you protect the city from the point of view of being able to cover the cost of the stadium over the 20-year time horizon to cover the cost of the bonds?"
Several national studies cast doubt on Carstensen's analysis. Sports economists Brad Humphreys and Dennis Coates found that the presence of a professional sports team rarely boosts the local economy, and often ends up as a burden or a boondoggle. Similar conclusions have been echoed by studies at the Brookings Institution, Stanford University, and others.
To his credit, Carstensen has been willing to engage some of his toughest critics. His discussion with Field of Schemes author (and stadium subsidies über-skeptic) Neil deMause was a revealing, if wonkish, debate about the ups and downs of stadium economics. (DeMause ended up softening his views about Dunkin' Donuts Park, though he maintains the ballpark is a big risk for the city).
The entire Downtown North development is shrouded in piles of concrete and rebar right now. The full impact of the project won't be known until at least 2020, when construction is scheduled for completion, and Hartford's big bet either starts to pay off—or becomes another burden for taxpayers to bear.
UPDATE: Neil deMause contacted me a day after the video was published to clarify his opinion of the ballpark and development. He wrote:
I didn't "soften my views about Dunkin' Donuts Park" — I softened my views about Carstensen's study, once he pointed out to me that it acknowledged the stadium was a terrible deal, and just had hopes for the surrounding development. (Which is still arguable, but less crazy than the stadium deal.)
On reviewing his discussion with Carstensen, I have to agree that the above statement is a more accurate summary than what I originally wrote. In short: stadium terrible, surrounding development less crazy.
Runs about 9:40 minutes.
Produced, shot, and edited by Todd Krainin.
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Rename the team to Yard Apes, and I may attend.
Bring back the Whalers!
Time to play “Brass Bonanza”. 😉
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bwZbWZhAaM
$66M stadium for a Double A team?
Why not just commission a $1M statue of a white elephant, install it in front of city hall, and put the remaining $65M to use fixing potholes, collecting garbage and doing other things most people consider to be municipal services.
No kidding. It could actually work at $20M, but sports and government both seem to have moved past sustainability and into ridiculousness.
My alma mater (Texas Christian) recently spent $164M renovating its football stadium. Even though it was all funded with donations, it’s as nice as an NFL stadium was 20 years ago.
“I’m sorry Mr. Govt, but your proposal will remove unseen economic activity from other parts of the economy. Overall, society will be poorer.”
“Oh really? Well maybe someone else can do this study.”
“Hold on, Hold on.”
Judging by the scenes in the vid, it was shot on a weekend or the crews were waiting for Vincenzo and the union concrete to show up.
These idiot city councils have to understand: people care about their safety. They aren’t going to drive into a section of town where they fear for the safety of their persons or property unless the draw is huge.
A crappy baseball team won’t overcome the fear. Hell, based on the crimes committed at Dodger Stadium in LA, even a major league team isn’t enough draw for some people. Who wants to go see a game and then get beaten into permanent disability like Giants fan Bryan Stow?
—
To stop this madness, there should be a requirement that the people profiting from these stadium builds LIVE WITH THEIR FAMILIES EVERY DAY no further than 200 yards from the stadium grounds for a period no less than 10 years. This would of course cause these crony corporatists to build the stadiums in good, safe neighborhoods, where both rich and poor could expect to remain safe, BUT, such a prime location would make the stadium cost a lot more, making it harder for the cronies to turn a profit unless they ask for an amount too large for a broke city to ever pay.
Hartford is a clusterfuck of a city in a clusterfuck of a state in a cluaterfuck of a region that continually votes for the assclownery that created the problems in the first place. The North side of Hartford is bundened with generations of people who have no hope because they have no image of reality. Almost all of the housing is subsidized, as are most necessities. How in the fuck is building a stadium going to do dick to change that? Fucking stupid dickhole progressives.
ass hats all!!!
If you read the actual post linked to in the article, I didn’t “soften my views about Dunkin’ Donuts Park” ? I softened my views about Carstensen’s study somewhat once he pointed out that it acknowledged the stadium itself would be a money-loser (he figured the surrounding development might make up for it), but that’s very different.
What Carstensen’s study shows, if anything, is that Hartford would have been far better off telling the Yard Goats to take a hike and offering the site to private developers who wouldn’t require subsidies, and would build something that would be in use more than 70 days a year. Stadiums are horrible catalysts for economic development, and that’s as much the case in Hartford as anywhere.
Thanks for the clarification, Neil. It’s been noted in an update at the bottom of the article.
Another Troubled City, Another Subsidized Stadium To the Rescue
Perpetually broke Hartford bets big?and stupid?on minor-league ballpark.
There’s nothing more economically stimulating than a taxpayer paid minor league ball park to bring businesses and jobs back to a depressed community.
Just ask Detroit.
What about Flint, Michigan? The ones with the government-subsidized lead-poisoning?
Tigers are so not minor league…I think non-league is the correct term.
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Why do municipal governments keep shelling out tax-ayer money for stadiums, like UHD TV and porn don’t exist?
You were expecting them to shell out the pay raises they voted themselves to pay for stadiums and stuff, like in their altruistic speeches?
The Yard Goats?!?!?!? Yard Goats? I didn’t know Hillary was also a mascot, hell I might go ahead and vote for her now.
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Betting that subsidized stadium is going to need some high speed rail.
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Are government-subsidized Roman holidays the new opium for the masses?
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Here’s a thought….compete with Rentschler Field six miles away in East Hartford. Add maintenance and traffic costs to the mix. Burden Rtes 2, 84, and 91. Then Rte 44. Any more bright ideas?
The Democrat Governor and state legislature will go right along with “state” taxpayers bailing them out. No one thinks long term–NO ONE. Just short-term, say, to put their name on something. I’m surprised this governor hasn’t asked that the stadium be located in Stamford. After all, the rest of the state has to pay for his burden of improvements [Metro North, never-ending construction of Rte 95 (deliberate poor construction in order to assure union jobs), unemployment statistics (eastern CT has to bear the burden of statewide averages, even though they are far poorer than western CT–in order to continually receive benefits, unemployed eastern residents MUST apply for jobs statewide, regardless of the 4hr RT travel time at minimum wage).
Here’s another thought (thinking long term): in about two years, the state taxpayer will have to subsidize Medicare once Obamacare removes the federal subsidy…you think your property taxes are high now?? Add this boondoggle of a stadium to the pile, and this governor and Democrat legislature will see a major outflow of available workers and property owners; the result will be a housing glut and higher taxes, say, by 2020.
I’m already gone.
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