Sports is becoming increasingly macroeconomic. Lots of “skim” in sports betting. And you need to be a billionaire to afford to buy a team. Working-class operations like the Green Bay Packers are a charming relic of the past.
Keeping the Portland Trailblazers in the City seems to require a several hundred million dollar contribution towards “Arena Renovations” from the city taxpayers, many of whom lack the wealth to attend a game. Why would they pony up for a “refresh”? Perhaps the wealthier suburbs with more residents that can afford to buy a ticket need to chip in?
Portland is kind of a small market. The team would be worth more in a Metro area with a larger population and more opportunities for Corporate sponsorship. Nike is really the only game in town for Oregon. (Though that’s a big factor. Apparently the Blazers got Ja Morant at a big discount because Nike wanted to keep a closer eye on him and far removed from his distractions in Memphis.}
Better off moving to Bellevue. It’s where the rest of the businesses are going. Seattle is in as much financial trouble if not more than Portland. Like Portland, public safety has become less of a priority. It’s difficult to draw in businesses that attract large groups, if public safety is an issue.
Seattle already has baseball, and Football stadiums and knows how to handle crowd, security, public transit for games, etc. Bellevue doesn’t have those infrastructure. But folks from Bellevue can get to the games with the ligh trail expansion.
Those things will become difficult to maintain on a go forward basis. It won’t happen overnight but they are becoming systemic problems. These are businesses that rely heavily on middle class revenue and or substantial revenue sharing agreements. But, those only work for so long.
Portland is starting from a much smaller economic base and farther down the economic road to disaster. It doesn’t have to be that way but it is the path that those citizens have chosen. Beyond that, there is a growing level of incompetency at the elected level responsible for decision making or making appointments of others to do so. It’s a double dose so to speak. Economic policies driving out business and families, which has and will impact tax revenue. Along with that, less available revenue being managed by those ill prepared to understand how to allocate it properly.
The irony is Portland has a higher annual spend rate than Seattle on per capita basis. Despite the added spending, residences, to your point regarding transit and amenities, Portland has less to show for it.
Seattle just hosted several world cup matches. Sports journalists following the matches naturally compared the various venues. Seattle consistently ranked at or near the top as the best venue, in part because of the urban location.
Fans following their teams came to similar conclusions. Seattle was consistently rated at or near the top in fan experience.
And of course the Mariners host 81 baseball games a year and the Seahawks 8-10 football games, and stand at a 190 game sell-out streak. So I’m not sure your comment about “large groups” is entirely accurate.
Your public safety comment also had me scratching my head a little bit. The violent crime rate in Seattle (homicides, aggravated assaults, robberies, rapes) is lower than most similarly sized US cities. Homicides in particular are far lower in Seattle, than most US cities. Property crimes are higher, it should be said. But as far as safety, Seattle is as safe or safer than most US cities.
I should say, I’ve lived inside the Seattle City limits for 34 years. If I didn’t feel safe I wouldn’t live here. It feels expensive to live here. It is expensive because people are willing to pay a lot of money to live in Seattle.
Seattle is suffering from office vacancy rates, and simultaneously commercial property values going down thus property tax revenue getting hit. So, getting a basketball stadium will help them.
Separately, Democratic cities have to seriously reconsider higher minimum wages and their impact on small businesses. It is decimating city finances, job losses, businesses moving away from downtown.
The venue is already there. Seattle Center is where the WNBA Seattle Storm play, as well as the NHL Kraken. It is uptown, with good transit connections, lively neighborhood, surrounded by good bars and restaurants, minutes from the tech hub of South Lake Union, etc.
The NBA has announced expansion plans for Seattle and the Kraken ownership group has been widely rumored to be involved.
The chances of an NBA team going to Bellevue instead of Seattle are slim and none.
Seattle has the 4th highest overall crime rate of any major city. Crime is 172% above the national average. In addition, police staffing remains well below historical averages. By some estimates, 200-300 positions remain unfilled.
Seattle isn’t Portland but is heading in that direction. Bellevue has seen a substantial increase in commercial property value, economic expansion and jobs as businesses move from Seattle. This is apart from several high profile departures of corporate headquarters out Seattle to other states.
High regulation, taxes and lack of affordability are driving people and businesses out of Seattle. The decline is gradual but still noticeable. Right now, it’s mostly seen as a domestic migration being replaced by international H-b1 visa holders
Seattle faces a multi year budget deficit of almost $500million. Barring state intervention, it will face resource cuts, which usually means a loss of key services, which usually impacts police and emergency response times to the community.
Of course, we haven’t even addressed the currently city leadership, which may only make matters worse.
Are you seriously trying to argue Bellevue is a better location for NBA expansion than Seattle?
Let me provide some background. The city owns the basketball/hockey arena, which underwent a billion dollar renovation a few years ago, with the understanding of trying to attract the NBA and NHL. The renovation was all done with private money, headed by long time sports exec Tim Leiweke, with the understanding that group would also operate the arena.
They got an NHL team right away, the Kraken, which is owned by the same people who operate the arena.
When the NBA announced they were accepting bids, the Kraken ownership hired J.P Morgan to help them put a bid together and just last month they brought on Melinda French Gates as partner.
There might be other bidders out there, but the only ones who have said they are bidding publicly say the the plan the whole time was for the team to be in Seattle proper.
They might be making a tragic mistake by not doing it in Bellevue, but no one so far is stepping up to do it out there.
We started this journey eight years ago intentful to bring the NBA back, and we are going to lean in," Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said. “The announcements we made earlier in the week were all laying the groundwork, and we’re excited. And if we’re fortunate enough someday to bring it back and help lead, we’ll do it the same way, in the same fashion we’ve done everything else: fans, community and with passion for this place we live.”
I’m arguing Portland is unlikely to have any professional sports at some point. If Seattle continues down its current path, existing professional franchises may start to look elsewhere. These types of businesses rely heavily on corporate and middle class support. When you inact policies that drive these groups away, it has a cascade effect.
Back in March, the NBA announced expansion plans for expansion plans for Seattle. It is unfortunate they didn’t talk to you about economics of professional sports markets first.
I don’t know for certain what Seattle’s future holds. Nobody imagined the Chicago Bears would consider leaving downtown, yet, here we are. The exploration of potential bids for a return of a team to Seattle is not yet finalized.
If Seattle does re-establish a team, it will be interesting to see how the new State and city income taxes may impact the ability to draw the top professional players. The combined top rate is expected to hit 18%, which is no small chunk of earnings, in addition to the federal rates.
Even if Seattle does get another team, it’s no guarantee the franchise remains there long term. Seattle does have a much broader population to draw from in the surrounding areas for fans and ticket sales. Whether Seattle ends up with another franchise, it may have more to do with the surrounding area support, rather than the economic health of the city itself. Detroit is an example of a city that retains Basketball, football, hockey, and baseball on a professional level, despite rather muted economic development within the city, although there are a number of initiatives ongoing to change that trajectory.
A lot of people imagined it. The Bears ownership said straight up either they get brand-new taxpayer subsidized stadium with all the bells and whistles or they’d go shopping. But Chicago and Illinois were pretty tepid on the idea of subsidizing billionaire owners. They have been yammering about this for years.
However, the good citizens of Illinois agreed to step up build a billion dollars worth of infrastructure for the new stadium complex, AND raise their own taxes to pay for it! Look, if as a nation we can’t take care of the billionaires, how can we expect to take care of school teachers or elderly people?
Now, you could be right. The Seahawks might have a similar problem. You see, the liberals in Seattle passed a law that says basically city funds can’t be used to subsidize sports teams.
As it turns out, the Seahawks were just purchased last month for an NLF-record $9.6 billion, substantially higher than the previous record of $6 billion in 2023. Apparently the Khosla family didn’t get the memo that no one wants to attend gatherings in Seattle. I guess they overpaid, but hey, we all make mistakes, right?
Hmm, maybe. Gemini tells me median income in Seattle are about the same as the rest of King County. I don’t think a lot of support from the surrounding area is needed. Plus Seattle income are about 50% above the national median, which lots of people in Seattle have lots of disposable income for things like sports tickets. That’s a big reason why the NBA wants to expand here.
Absolutely. California has very high personal income tax rates. And over the last two decades, the Lakers and Golden State Warriors haven’t been able to attract any of the top players. None of the big name free agents have gone there for tax reasons.
