Maybe I am being picky, but this Sports Illustrated headline frustrated me: “Baltimore Ravens Spending Over $50 Million More on Stadium Upgrades”. I saw this headline and found myself assuming that the Ravens had paid for the overall cost of the upgrades and not just the cost overruns. At the very least, I expected to see the Ravens splitting the cost of the upgrades with taxpayers.
Judging by the last few years in the NFL, teams wanting extensive stadium upgrades will usually see final price tags around several hundred million dollars. In this case, the total of these renovations was about $489 million. However, not only is the headline misleading about the Ravens paying for the upgrades, but the $50 million amount is not even the correct number. Thanks to the Maryland Stadium Authority cutting the team a check for $35 million, the Ravens will only be paying $20 million for the new renovations.
You may be wondering about the rest of the project. Get ready because Maryland taxpayers are responsible for the rest of the upgrades. That means that the remainder of the $489 million upgrades will be charged to the state. But, I struggle to find other media outlets that are announcing this fact in a clear manner. WBAL-TV wrote a story last week titled “Baltimore Ravens unveil plans for $430M in upgrades to M&T Bank Stadium”. The next line says, “Some state funds to pay for upgrades”. I am sorry, what? Some? The rest of the article simply gives people the overall cost of the upgrades.
Even better, this money will come from Maryland’s state lottery funds, which “otherwise would go to the state’s general fund”. For those who don’t know, the general fund for cities and states is the “predominant fund for financing a state’s operations”. It is the primary operating fund of a government and accounts for activities including public safety, street maintenance, community services, police, fire, and other things. Thankfully, nobody cares about those activities. Who cares if the police and firefighters get paid nothing? Furthermore, it isn’t like the state of Maryland is currently dealing with a $3 billion dollar budget deficit. Sure, the Maryland Governor recently was forced into “making cuts to programs and adding new taxes and fees”. But guess whose stadium will have a “new beer hall” and more “luxury suites and clubs for fans who pay top dollar”? M&T Bank Stadium! That is who!
At least Baltimore residents are happy about this…
“Once again, the local taxpayers are being pillaged by the Baltimore Ravens, this time to the tune of $430 million. What will the taxpayers get for this gargantuan outlay of tax dollars? They’ll get a cutesy little club area which will only be populated about 50 hours per year by only the rich and beautiful people…Meanwhile, the Baltimore police and fire departments remain woefully short on manpower. This is not to mention the many city schools that have struggled through heating or air conditioning issues. Finally, the Baltimore Department of Public Works is a disaster. A DPW worker died on the job due to the heat and a lack of hydration facilities. In other words, the city and state will not hesitate to raise money via bonds, use lottery funding originally earmarked for the schools, and even borrow money at today’s highest interest rates to please…the Baltimore Ravens. What are the real priorities in city and state government?” — Baltimore Sun, Letter, 08/2024
Oh, maybe not.
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