Over the last two years, I have written three articles discussing the obsession that some local leaders in New Mexico have with building a soccer stadium. In 2022, officials asked voters to fund a new stadium for the New Mexico United, the local soccer team, which would have cost taxpayers upwards of $50M and counting. As one local news station summarized it: “Voters overwhelmingly said no”. Voters saw through the fake promise of job creation and economic glory.
After several months passed, the idea of building a new soccer stadium yet again came up, thanks to the mayor showing up on a piece of property and telling the world that this would be “the future home of a New Mexico United soccer stadium”. Oh, and the city demanded $50 million from taxpayers for this new stadium, although the public received no justification for that figure. After numerous other local leaders noted how ridiculously rushed the process was becoming, this idea died down for a while.
Guess what is coming back? A new soccer stadium! But good news for everyone as the city has stressed that “no tax dollars will be used to build the stadium itself” and that the team will be paying for it “all”. Except, just a few small things.
“The (city) council is set to look at the tax incentives that would be offered to New Mexico United for building their stadium at Balloon Fiesta Park…On Monday, the city council is set to go over the IRB, or industrial revenue bond, being offered to NM United, to help fund the stadium” — KRQE, 02/02/2025
However, by claiming that no tax dollars would be utilized and that the team would be responsible for the entire stadium construction, the city purposefully deceived the public. New Mexico United is absolutely getting taxpayer support to build this new stadium. The team will be eligible for tax incentives that allow it to not pay any property taxes for the next 20–30 years. For anyone who doesn’t know, IRB’s are tax incentives that allow a business to limit how much property tax that they will pay over the following 20–30 years.
Most regular taxpayers do not care if their sports team are exempt from property taxes. But there is a reason so many sports teams require property tax exemption for a new sports venue. It saves them a LOT of money. One estimate reveals (Per FieldOfSchemes.com) that 79% of the 126 stadiums and arenas for the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS are fully exempt from property taxes. That means that cities have lost around $650 million dollars in property taxes. Factor in the building’s life for all teams, and we now have $18 billion dollars of lost revenue.
“There’s no functional difference between a government cutting a sports team owner a $100 million check and one granting them $100 million in tax breaks” — Geoffrey Propheter, “Major League Sports and the Property Tax” (2022)
When KOAT, a local news station, got their hands on a lease agreement between the team and the city, they found if a stadium was built, there would be “a lot of taxes the New Mexico United soccer club will not have to pay”. Another subsidy would come from the team being allowed to deduct “equipment purchased in the construction” from their gross receipts tax bill. Let’s not forget the millions spent by taxpayers at the current home of New Mexico United. What else? We don’t know, and the team won’t show us. Naturally, they will have “details to share” with the public once an “agreement is in place”. How nice of them to show the public once the taxpayers can’t do anything.
One other thing:
“The city has stressed that no tax dollars will be used to build the stadium itself….However, the city will be paying $30 million to improve the parking lot, lights, as well as bathrooms at Balloon Fiesta Park where the stadium will be located” — KRQE, 02/02/2025
When asked about this contradiction, the soccer team responded in the way that you would expect. They continue to claim that this new stadium would be “privately funded” all the while throwing in a little threat about how this project is dead and “can’t happen” without the property tax savings and city contribution.
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