Field of Schemes

For those of you seeking alternate platforms, Field of Schemes is now also available at fieldofschemes.bsky.social, mas.to/@fieldofschemes, post.news/@/fieldofschem…, and facebook.com/fieldofschemes, probably more to come as soon as I've finished typing this.

KCUR added up all taxes paid at Chiefs and Royals games and declared that to be how much Missouri would "lose" if the teams moved to Kansas — which isn't how it works at all, as some people would choose to keep spending money in Missouri on other things. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/25/229…

The DC council is set to hold public hearings on the $7B Commanders stadium plan next week, but any testimony now can't affect the final deal. Likewise, two pending city economic studies will arrive too late to influence what the council will vote on. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/24/229…

An expiring lease, it turns out, is only an urgent crisis if team ownership wants it to be, to turn up the heat on local lawmakers to approve a deal ASAP; when it's team officials that want to take their time, leases can always be renewed or extended. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/23/229…

The most likely scenario for the Commanders remains that both Mayor Bowser and the D.C. council ignore the president, who either forgets about the entire thing or maybe just orders Google to label the team "Washington Redskins" and declares victory. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/22/229…

The Bobb report's proposed minor tweaks are hardly the biggest concerns in a deal that would include $7B+ in taxpayer cash and land and tax breaks. Economist J.C. Bradbury replied, "Someone paid for this? This is awful," which is the correct response. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/21/229…

One reason we don't know the details of Hamilton County's new Bengals lease that could cost taxpayers $700m+ for stadium expenses is that county commission members haven't seen the final lease, even though they already voted to approve it, this is fine. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/18/229…

Add it all up, and the county's $350m stated cost looks like ... let's call it "at least $700m." And with the added state money the Bengals owners plan to seek from Ohio's unclaimed property slush fund, total taxpayer costs could easily be more than $1B. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/17/229…

The assumption is DC councilmembers will ultimately ask for changes in the Commanders lease terms, but whether those will be significant enough to move the needle on "most lavish stadium subsidy in history by a factor of at least four" remains to be seen. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/17/229…

When pressed on the source of their projections of an economic windfall from an Atlanta All-Star Game, Cobb County officials said they came from the Braves and MLB, the Braves said they came from the league, and the league denied any role at all. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/16/229…

Even if courts eventually rule it's legal escheatment, this is money Ohio could have used for literally anything else — but sports team owners were shouting the loudest, so they're the ones who'll end up getting the benefit of all those uncashed checks. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/15/229…

We're back to square one on where the Rays will play, only with a new owner who St. Pete officials don't hate — which could make a difference, given how the Detroit Tigers being sold from one pizza baron another helped jumpstart that team's stadium plans. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/15/229…

Kicking the tires on Clay County seems to be Royals owner John Sherman's way of launching a bidding war between Kansas City and North Kansas City for his team's affections, even while he's still conducting a similar bidding war between Missouri and Kansas. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/14/229…

Congress mustering votes to override the DC council before it gets around to the Commanders deal in September seems remote, but if team lobbyists think they can scare D.C. councilmembers by threatening to release the kraken, you know they'll do so. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/11/229…

What is Diamond Baseball Holdings up to with its MiLB team-buying spree, and is it something specifically related to the evils of private equity, or just what any red-blooded rich dudes looking to line their pockets at public expense would do? fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/11/229…

Sending the survey now has the bonus effect of making the stadium push seem like it has momentum — the Bears are building a new stadium, they're just figuring out what kind of signature cocktails to offer! — something that's been extremely lacking of late. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/10/229…

There's no way of knowing how much city money Broncos owner Greg Penner could be seeking — it all depends on whether this would be a traditional TIF that just diverts property taxes, or an omni-TIF like in Ohio that siphons off every tax imaginable. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/09/229…

It's not clear what Trump can do to force the DC council to pass a Commanders stadium bill this month rather than putting it off until the fall: Threaten to cut even more DC funding than he already has? Abduct Phil Mendelson and send him to El Salvador? fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/09/229…

Stadium leverage ends up being a long game of chicken, where the two (or more!) sides issue ultimatums and hope no one calls their bluff. And while sports team owners aren't always good at this, all evidence is that elected officials are much, much worse. fieldofschemes.com/2025/07/08/229…