South Kansas City is on the verge of wiping away a nasty bit of blight, and 9-year-olds in shinguards are going to help. The owners of the Kansas City Wizards have come forward with a plan to redevelop the Bannister Mall area. Replacing the carcasses left when J.C. Penney, Wal-Mart and other retailers packed up their cash registers and left: a soccer stadium, youth fields, stores, offices and hotels.
The developers laid out the details of their $1 billion plan before the city's Tax Increment Financing Commission on September 19. It was hard not to be impressed.
Lawyer Aaron March said the development represented the "salvation" of Bannister Mall. Sensitive to recent criticism of TIF projects, March pointed out that the developers were asking for "only" $267 million in tax incentives. The developers, he also noted, weren't asking the city to back the project's debt.
There's a lot to like about the plan. It aims a wrecking ball at a mall that's demoralizing in its emptiness. It also sprinkles TIF's pixie dust over a part of town that could use some help — not the Plaza or the Northland, where cunning developers have steered incentives too many times in the past.
That said, Major League Soccer's business model is pretty shameless. As I've written, the league essentially exploits children to get what it wants. In a number of MLS cities, the league has nudged taxpayers to pony up for new soccer stadiums by bundling them with youth fields (“Here, Kiddie, Kiddie,”). MLS is kind of like teachers' unions in the way it attaches its needs to people's impulses to do what's best for the children.
Johnson County voters saw through the ploy and, last fall, turned down a proposal to build a soccer stadium and youth soccer fields in Overland Park. So the Wizards turned their attention to Bannister Road and Interstate 435.
At the TIF Commission meeting, March said the soccer-and-shopping funporium was the "only way" to redevelop Bannister Mall. I don't know if this is true, but I don't fault 6th District Councilman John Sharp and others who seem to be clutching the Wizards proposal like a life raft.
But just when I was ready to join the plan's other fans by pulling on one of those Dr. Seuss hats that soccer fans seem to favor, the Wizards' owners did something stupid. They screwed up the David Beckham game.
The English superstar signed with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy earlier this year, and the league is banking on his popularity. The Wizards promoted the Galaxy's September 27 visit as the Midwest Sporting Event of the Year. And promptly doubled ticket prices.
I took enough econ to understand supply-and-demand curves. Still, it's sad to think that the city will be going into business with a league so eager to gouge fans.
In every MLS city, the Beckham curious have been forced to pay higher ticket prices or buy multigame packages. The decision is defensible, I suppose, in places where soccer stadiums can accommodate only 20,000 or so fans. Teams in those cities would have left a lot on the table by charging regular rates for the season's sole appearance by Beckham.
The Wizards, who play at Arrowhead Stadium, face no such space crunch. With Beckham coming, the Wizards' owners might have said, Gosh, for one game, at least, I'm sure glad we play in a big cavern! Or, Wow, what an opportunity to show off this great sport and great league to a multitude of fans!
Instead, they said, Let's grab every last nickel we can!
Alas, Galaxy-game ticket buyers can only hope to get a glimpse of Beckham looking handsome on the sidelines. After hurting an ankle, then a knee, Becks has appeared in only six of MLS games. Press reports say he won't play again until October.
Beckham's injury reveals the Wizards' pricing strategy for the insult that it is. Speaking to The Kansas City Star's Hearne Christopher, Wizards spokesman Rob Thomson equated Beckham's situation to baseball slugger Barry Bonds taking a day off. Bad comparison, Rob. Major league clubs didn't enact a "Bonds tax" during his chase of the home-run record. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres charged the same prices for seats when Bonds was on the verge of catching Hank Aaron as they did when the Washington Nationals were in town.
Besides, baseball has built up a lot more goodwill than soccer has. At the TIF Commission meeting, Wizards co-owner Cliff Illig said soccer "is the fastest-growing sport on the globe." But they've been saying that since I played the game wearing a pair of plaid Toughskins. We sports fans, it's been shown, have only so much room in our lizard brains. Complaining about Mike Sweeney's captaincy, setting our fantasy-football roster and filling out our NCAA basketball-tournament brackets doesn't leave a lot of time for soccer.
The Beckham ticket shenanigans betray a lack in confidence in the product: Better get the money now, because the fans aren't coming back. And taxpayers are supposed to invest $75 million in a new stadium for these guys?
Beckham sprained his knee on August 29, and it was reported that he would be out six weeks. Yet last week, the Wizards were still touting the Galaxy game as the Midwest Sporting Event of the Year. A picture of Beckham appears on the Web page where fans can buy tickets to the game. The asterisk alerting prospective fans to the reality that Beckham is "not guaranteed to appear or play" seems unintentionally hilarious.
Editor's Note: Late Tuesday, the team announced that parking for tonight's game would be free.
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I make minimum wage and gladly paid for tickets to the Beckham game. There is always a risk of injury in any sport. So for someone to expect a %100 gaurantee on a Beckham performance is just naive. I would expect a 12 year old to make that argument. Also, a majority of soccer fans aren't torn between 3 different sports. They are true soccer fans and were buying tickets well before the arrival of the English import. To exploit a Beckham injury as a conspiracy to sell tickets while ignoring the controversies of other sports is just irresponsible and ametuer reporting. The NBA has corrupt officials, MLB has Pete Rose, and who knows...maybe Babe Ruth corked his bat. My point is not everyone is a football and baseball fan but they still pay taxes on those stadiums. So why should soccer fans be dismissed because the big football and baseball stadium owners are worried about competing with soccer?
I make minimum wage and gladly paid for tickets to the Beckham game. There is always a risk of injury in any sport. So for someone to expect a %100 gaurantee on a Beckham performance is just naive. I would expect a 12 year old to make that argument. Also, a majority of soccer fans aren't torn between 3 different sports. They are true soccer fans and were buying tickets well before the arrival of the English import. To exploit a Beckham injury as a conspiracy to sell tickets while ignoring the controversies of other sports is just irresponsible and ametuer reporting. The NBA has corrupt officials, MLB has Pete Rose, and who knows...maybe Babe Ruth corked his bat. My point is not everyone is a football and baseball fan but they still pay taxes on those stadiums. So why should soccer fans be dismissed because the big football and baseball stadium owners are worried about competing with soccer?
No, this is not journalism. What do you expect, you're reading trash like "The Pitch" and you expect it to be journalism?
I mean look at some other non-sports related headlines in this garbage they call "newspaper".
"A veteran porn star opens her legs again in Kansas City."
What do you expect? Trash like this paper is what is wrong with American society today and why countries like China and India will overtake USA in almost all respects.
No, this is not journalism. What do you expect, you're reading trash like "The Pitch" and you expect it to be journalism? I mean look at some other non-sports related headlines in this garbage they call "newspaper". "A veteran porn star opens her legs again in Kansas City." What do you expect? Trash like this paper is what is wrong with American society today and why countries like China and India will overtake USA in almost all respects.
Hey David Martin,
Longview Community College called, they want their Journalism degree back. Mr. Martin, what you've just wrote is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent article were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone is now dumber for having read it. I award you no reputation, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Hey podunkboy,
How is Odessa treating you? Come back and talk to us when your REAL sports teams can put together a winning record.
Hey David Martin, Longview Community College called, they want their Journalism degree back. Mr. Martin, what you've just wrote is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent article were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone is now dumber for having read it. I award you no reputation, and may God have mercy on your soul. Hey podunkboy, How is Odessa treating you? Come back and talk to us when your REAL sports teams can put together a winning record.
I think if David Martin is going to accuse MLS of "shenanigans", he should at least have some proof that this is some sort of league policy or ploy, and not just individual owners getting the best deal they can like in every other sport.
Only 2 soccer stadiums that have been built even have youth fields attached in any way.
L.A. Galaxy and Chivas USA both play in a stadium with no youth fields attached for development. Chicago Fire just had a stadium completely paid for by the city of Bridgeview with no youth fields involved. Toronto got substantial help with their stadium. No youth fields there. New York's new stadium and Salt Lake City's new stadium won't either.
Columbus have no youth component attached to their stadium paid for by Lamar Hunt. Only Dallas and Colorado have youth fields attached, and they are located in a distant suburb of their respective metro areas with lots of land.
The Chiefs and the Royals put in virtually ZERO money into their new stadiums, and they certainly weren't aiming to help out a blighted area of the city when they did it.
David Martin needs to show some proof of a league business model if he's going to throw around heavy accusations.
The Beckham anger is stupid, and to pull support for the stadium because of it, even worse. Both MU and KU raise price for high profile games, along with the Royals. Greg Oden getting hurt is a perfect example. The Wizards at least got rid of their parking charge. They sure as hell didn't have to. Nobody refunds money. Went to Worlds of Fun and the power went out at the park for 2/3 of my visit. No refund. At least in this case, people still get to see a professional soccer game with important playoff implications for their hometown team.
A 9/11 for the black community? Are you kidding me? You must be the same guy who compared it to Pearl Harbor for the Star too.
There's no way two separate people can be this delusional.
There's plenty of unused vacant business space that could be used right now for a "chocolate mall". The point is, no one will rent the space in the mall or elsewhere (Loma Vista etc.), because the area in its current form isn't attractive to consumers. The people that live next Bannister mall are heading out to Independence or another actual shopping center right now.
Complete renovation is the only answer to make it a destination again.
Reopen the mall as a minority business incubator. This city needs a peoples mall. Get new management. Nothing helps a business get started like cheap rent. We need a chocolate mall. Tearing the mall down would be a 9/11 for the black community.
Boy are you off-base - you need to do your homework!
Your point: " That said, Major League Soccer's business model is pretty shameless. As I've written, the league essentially exploits children to get what it wants. In a number of MLS cities, the league has nudged taxpayers to pony up for new soccer stadiums by bundling them with youth fields "
WRONG!!!! I'm not an attorney but I think you can probably be sued for liable.
Major League Soccer's business model has nothing to do with exploiting children. Most world class soccer clubs have their own youth development systems just like Major League Baseball has a "farm league" to bring up young baseball players. They do this through a partnership with U.S. Youth Soccer. Each Major League Soccer team has a system to raise young talented players to play for the home team.
They are also trying to bring soccer to as many children and young people as possible. Soccer is an extremely health and aerobic sport. Soccer is a sport which requires strength, explosive power, speed & agility, endurance and overall total body strength. The incredible skill required to control a round ball with your foot, body and head without the use of hands takes years to develop and refine. Soccer requires strategy and tactics.
Mayor Bill White of Houston says he won't back public funding for a soccer stadium unless a youth system and soccer fields accompany the stadium.
Soccer is one of the best weapons to battle the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. The problem of childhood obesity in the United States has grown considerably in recent years. Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion. Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise.
Researchers believe the study of varsity gridiron football linemen from rosters of all classes of Iowa high school football teams is one of the first and most comprehensive appraisals of obesity in high school football. Of the players analyzed, 28 percent were deemed at risk of being overweight and 45 percent fit the standards for being overweight, including 9 percent who met adult severe obesity. Scripps Howard compared the mortality rates for professional-football players with the 2,403 Major League Baseball players who have died in the last century. The comparison found that football players are more than twice as likely to die before age 50.
Bum Phillips who coached the NFL Oilers also brought up some crossover coaching strategy. "If I had to go back into high school coaching, I'd require every kid that played football, play soccer, too," said Phillips. "Soccer is a much better game for kids than any other sport I can think of. It makes you use all your body skills. Neither, baseball or gridiron football are considered aerobic sports.
The United States Soccer Federation has the most registered youth players (3.9 million) in the world, with 2.3 million male players and 1.5 million female players. Germany is second and Brazil third. There are four times as many players participating in youth soccer than in Little League Baseball.
Your point: Wizards' owners did something stupid. They screwed up the David Beckham game."
Injuries are inherent to sports. The Kansas City Wizards nor did the L.A. Galaxy didn't plan for David Beckham to injure his knee or ankle but injuries happen with all sports. They did market David Beckham as they should. David Beckham is a dynamic world class athlete known around the World . Major League Soccer follows the same models found in any other U.S. sport. It's a matter of supply and demand. It's not much different what has happened in the music industry and concerts for popular artists. I can remember when you could go see a popular artist for less than $20 but now it will cost around $500 for a comparable ticket. MLS is a fairly young league � these things happen.
Beckham is with MLS for 5 years. Just because he missed some games due to injury, he'll be back and we'll be able to watch his awesome control of the ball and his incredible skills. I think that Kansas City sports fans are smart enough to realize that even though MLS heavily marketed David Beckham - they hadn't planned on him not being able to play during this games. I'm quite sure that they will make it up in the long run.
Kansas City sports fans shouldn't be coming to MLS games just for Beckham. They should be coming out to support their city's professional team in the World's most popular sport.
Global phenomenon
Soccer (more appropriately in my opinion called football or futbol) is the most popular sport in the World. Soccer is played in almost every country and is by far the most popular team sport in the world. The pinnacle event for World soccer is the World Cup which is held every four years.
The 2006 Men's World Cup was aired by a total of 43,600 broadcasts across 214 countries and territories. The 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany had a total cumulative television audience of 26.29 billion (24.2 billion in-home and 2.1 billion out-of-home viewers).
An estimated 25% of the world�s population watched the final game of the 2006 World Cup. The United States of America's men's team has never won the World Cup. Our best finish as a nation was when the United States Team came in 3rd place in the 1930 World Cup.
It's a Matter of Patriotism - pride in city, pride in country
Soccer is the only team sport in which the United States competes which is truly global. Supporting the United States National team(s) and United Soccer is patriotic. (including professional leagues, college, high school and clubs which are the nursery for the United States teams)
Unfortunately, many American's don't understand the global importance of this game. Most who bash soccer also don't understand the game. Most have never been to a professional game, haven't played soccer, have never supported a team or followed soccer. I grew up and baseball, basketball and gridiron football. I still enjoy these sports. I didn't discover soccer until about 15 years ago. It took me a little while to really understand the sport. Once I did, I discovered why it's the most popular sport in the World. More and more American's are making the same discovery.
I 've spent 25 years in service to this country. I�ve spent approximately 15 years overseas. During this time I have had the opportunity to gain appreciation of the global importance of the game.
It hasn't been that long since small island countries laughed at this country when we came to play the World's game but this has changed. This U.S. National team(s) take on and win against some of the top teams in the World. Major League Soccer teams are taking on and winning against some of the top clubs in the World.
Stop whining. Support your city's team in our country's professional league in the World�s most popular sport. Support your country's teams in the most exciting game on the planet. Support KC. Support America.
God bless America!
This was a very biased and stupid article. I live in a town that slashed on a stadium and it has done nothing but great things for the economy and development of the city. Furthermore, it can easily be argued that the kids who play soccer and go to school in the FISD benefit the most. To the poster who said soccer will never be a major sport know that I would have agreed with you four years ago. Now I know how foolish you are being. Also, while a mistake a growing sport should not be judged by the same ruler as one that is established when it comes to ticket prices.
podunkboy, when "real sports teams" like the Royals and Chiefs are expected to pay their own way? You gotta be kidding me. How much of the just under $1 billion dollars are the Chiefs and Royals putting towards the TSC renovations?
I think if David Martin is going to accuse MLS of "shenanigans", he should at least have some proof that this is some sort of league policy or ploy, and not just individual owners getting the best deal they can like in every other sport. Only 2 soccer stadiums that have been built even have youth fields attached in any way. L.A. Galaxy and Chivas USA both play in a stadium with no youth fields attached for development. Chicago Fire just had a stadium completely paid for by the city of Bridgeview with no youth fields involved. Toronto got substantial help with their stadium. No youth fields there. New York's new stadium and Salt Lake City's new stadium won't either. Columbus have no youth component attached to their stadium paid for by Lamar Hunt. Only Dallas and Colorado have youth fields attached, and they are located in a distant suburb of their respective metro areas with lots of land. The Chiefs and the Royals put in virtually ZERO money into their new stadiums, and they certainly weren't aiming to help out a blighted area of the city when they did it. David Martin needs to show some proof of a league business model if he's going to throw around heavy accusations. The Beckham anger is stupid, and to pull support for the stadium because of it, even worse. Both MU and KU raise price for high profile games, along with the Royals. Greg Oden getting hurt is a perfect example. The Wizards at least got rid of their parking charge. They sure as hell didn't have to. Nobody refunds money. Went to Worlds of Fun and the power went out at the park for 2/3 of my visit. No refund. At least in this case, people still get to see a professional soccer game with important playoff implications for their hometown team.
A 9/11 for the black community? Are you kidding me? You must be the same guy who compared it to Pearl Harbor for the Star too. There's no way two separate people can be this delusional. There's plenty of unused vacant business space that could be used right now for a "chocolate mall". The point is, no one will rent the space in the mall or elsewhere (Loma Vista etc.), because the area in its current form isn't attractive to consumers. The people that live next Bannister mall are heading out to Independence or another actual shopping center right now. Complete renovation is the only answer to make it a destination again.
@Mr Ghetto You do realize that people _died_ in 9/11. To liken the tearing down of an empty mall to the deaths that occurred that day is insensitive and downright disgusting. As far as your 'idea', the mall had its chance and it came up short. There is no evidence that reopening the mall and handing out tax dollars will make anything different. On the other hand, adding a venue and retail to an area has worked once already and is already in the process of working again (Legends/Speedway and Sprint Center respectively). Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see local business involved in this plan, probably phase 2 of the retail and whatnot, but opening a failed mall and hoping that people will come back to the same mall they abandoned years ago is not the way to bring this area back to life.
Reopen the mall as a minority business incubator. This city needs a peoples mall. Get new management. Nothing helps a business get started like cheap rent. We need a chocolate mall. Tearing the mall down would be a 9/11 for the black community.
Boy are you off-base - you need to do your homework! Your point: " That said, Major League Soccer's business model is pretty shameless. As I've written, the league essentially exploits children to get what it wants. In a number of MLS cities, the league has nudged taxpayers to pony up for new soccer stadiums by bundling them with youth fields " WRONG!!!! I'm not an attorney but I think you can probably be sued for liable. Major League Soccer's business model has nothing to do with exploiting children. Most world class soccer clubs have their own youth development systems just like Major League Baseball has a "farm league" to bring up young baseball players. They do this through a partnership with U.S. Youth Soccer. Each Major League Soccer team has a system to raise young talented players to play for the home team. They are also trying to bring soccer to as many children and young people as possible. Soccer is an extremely health and aerobic sport. Soccer is a sport which requires strength, explosive power, speed & agility, endurance and overall total body strength. The incredible skill required to control a round ball with your foot, body and head without the use of hands takes years to develop and refine. Soccer requires strategy and tactics. Mayor Bill White of Houston says he won't back public funding for a soccer stadium unless a youth system and soccer fields accompany the stadium. Soccer is one of the best weapons to battle the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. The problem of childhood obesity in the United States has grown considerably in recent years. Between 16 and 33 percent of children and adolescents are obese. Obesity is among the easiest medical conditions to recognize but most difficult to treat. Unhealthy weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost to society for obesity is estimated at nearly $100 billion. Overweight children are much more likely to become overweight adults unless they adopt and maintain healthier patterns of eating and exercise. Researchers believe the study of varsity gridiron football linemen from rosters of all classes of Iowa high school football teams is one of the first and most comprehensive appraisals of obesity in high school football. Of the players analyzed, 28 percent were deemed at risk of being overweight and 45 percent fit the standards for being overweight, including 9 percent who met adult severe obesity. Scripps Howard compared the mortality rates for professional-football players with the 2,403 Major League Baseball players who have died in the last century. The comparison found that football players are more than twice as likely to die before age 50. Bum Phillips who coached the NFL Oilers also brought up some crossover coaching strategy. "If I had to go back into high school coaching, I'd require every kid that played football, play soccer, too," said Phillips. "Soccer is a much better game for kids than any other sport I can think of. It makes you use all your body skills. Neither, baseball or gridiron football are considered aerobic sports. The United States Soccer Federation has the most registered youth players (3.9 million) in the world, with 2.3 million male players and 1.5 million female players. Germany is second and Brazil third. There are four times as many players participating in youth soccer than in Little League Baseball. Your point: Wizards' owners did something stupid. They screwed up the David Beckham game." Injuries are inherent to sports. The Kansas City Wizards nor did the L.A. Galaxy didn't plan for David Beckham to injure his knee or ankle but injuries happen with all sports. They did market David Beckham as they should. David Beckham is a dynamic world class athlete known around the World . Major League Soccer follows the same models found in any other U.S. sport. It's a matter of supply and demand. It's not much different what has happened in the music industry and concerts for popular artists. I can remember when you could go see a popular artist for less than $20 but now it will cost around $500 for a comparable ticket. MLS is a fairly young league – these things happen. Beckham is with MLS for 5 years. Just because he missed some games due to injury, he'll be back and we'll be able to watch his awesome control of the ball and his incredible skills. I think that Kansas City sports fans are smart enough to realize that even though MLS heavily marketed David Beckham - they hadn't planned on him not being able to play during this games. I'm quite sure that they will make it up in the long run. Kansas City sports fans shouldn't be coming to MLS games just for Beckham. They should be coming out to support their city's professional team in the World's most popular sport. Global phenomenon Soccer (more appropriately in my opinion called football or futbol) is the most popular sport in the World. Soccer is played in almost every country and is by far the most popular team sport in the world. The pinnacle event for World soccer is the World Cup which is held every four years. The 2006 Men's World Cup was aired by a total of 43,600 broadcasts across 214 countries and territories. The 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany had a total cumulative television audience of 26.29 billion (24.2 billion in-home and 2.1 billion out-of-home viewers). An estimated 25% of the world’s population watched the final game of the 2006 World Cup. The United States of America's men's team has never won the World Cup. Our best finish as a nation was when the United States Team came in 3rd place in the 1930 World Cup. It's a Matter of Patriotism - pride in city, pride in country Soccer is the only team sport in which the United States competes which is truly global. Supporting the United States National team(s) and United Soccer is patriotic. (including professional leagues, college, high school and clubs which are the nursery for the United States teams) Unfortunately, many American's don't understand the global importance of this game. Most who bash soccer also don't understand the game. Most have never been to a professional game, haven't played soccer, have never supported a team or followed soccer. I grew up and baseball, basketball and gridiron football. I still enjoy these sports. I didn't discover soccer until about 15 years ago. It took me a little while to really understand the sport. Once I did, I discovered why it's the most popular sport in the World. More and more American's are making the same discovery. I 've spent 25 years in service to this country. I’ve spent approximately 15 years overseas. During this time I have had the opportunity to gain appreciation of the global importance of the game. It hasn't been that long since small island countries laughed at this country when we came to play the World's game but this has changed. This U.S. National team(s) take on and win against some of the top teams in the World. Major League Soccer teams are taking on and winning against some of the top clubs in the World. Stop whining. Support your city's team in our country's professional league in the World’s most popular sport. Support your country's teams in the most exciting game on the planet. Support KC. Support America. God bless America!
This was a very biased and stupid article. I live in a town that slashed on a stadium and it has done nothing but great things for the economy and development of the city. Furthermore, it can easily be argued that the kids who play soccer and go to school in the FISD benefit the most. To the poster who said soccer will never be a major sport know that I would have agreed with you four years ago. Now I know how foolish you are being. Also, while a mistake a growing sport should not be judged by the same ruler as one that is established when it comes to ticket prices.
podunkboy, when "real sports teams" like the Royals and Chiefs are expected to pay their own way? You gotta be kidding me. How much of the just under $1 billion dollars are the Chiefs and Royals putting towards the TSC renovations?
Disclaimer: I am a soccer and Wizards fan. I disclose this upfront not so that you can disregard what I say upfront, assuming that I'm too biased to discuss the topic rationally, but instead to let you know that yes, I'm going to defend my sport and team but hopefully I've managed to set my feelings aside enough to make a reasonable and credible argument.
I won't discuss much about the stadium plan at Bannister. While I think it is a good deal and that it would be good for the community, I know that I want a stadium badly enough that even bad deals would be amiable to me (the JoCo deal never tasted quite right... not that I felt that money for the kids would be wrongly used to build the Wizard's stadium but more that it wasn't quite the right place for both the kid's fields nor the stadium). In any case, the area does need help, that help needs to be more than a spit-shine for the existing mall and retail and nobody else is coming up to the plate (as far as I can see). You could also look at the public finance % of the two existing stadium deals (renovation of Truman Sports Complex and the Sprint Center) and compare it to this. 66% and 80% respectively is a lot larger piece of the pie than 28% this plan asks for. But I said I would not dwell on this.
I will conceed that I was not entirely pleased when I heard that ticket prices were going to be so high for this game, but, as you said, this was not anything unique to the Wizards and to an extent understandable. I was also a bit cynical, like you, when I continued to see advertisements with Beckham's likeness after it was pretty certain that he would not be making the trip. Despite this, you have to admit that it is common practice to not give out refunds on tickets for most any event regardless of whatever reason the event does not live up to expectations. Starlight doesn't refund tickets when it rains on the night of your show, KU fans don't get their second round NCAA tourny tickets refunded when KU goes out in the first round.
Probably the best example of this is the recent setback for Greg Oden and the Portland Trailblazers. There were quite a number of people who bought season tickets with the expectation that he would be playing. The money those people put in was a bit more than $35.
Another aspect of this whole debacle is that not only are Wizards tickets some of the cheapest in the league but the ticket prices compared to last year were relatively unchanged. The Wizards did need to raise prices somewhere, but instead of raising prices across the board they raised prices for the 'Beckham' game. And another thing that was not mentioned in your article is that the Wizards are making some concessions for ticket holders. Perhaps you don't feel that these concessions are enough, but failing to mention them at all is dishonest considering the 'tone' of the rest of your article.
While I still agree that it was poor for the organization to try to ride the 'Beckham' effect so far, it is unreasonable to expect that they refund the tickets when he isn't able to show.
Lastly, I very much disagree with your ultimate conclusion (that 'the fans aren't coming back') - the current owners of the Wizards bought the club all of a year ago. These owners are successful business men who have made the money necessary to own such a team by not throwing money into situations which they do not expect a return. Soccer does have a future in this country, demonstrated by the tremendous ratings generated by the 2006 World Cup. You are correct that many sports fans today will not become soccer fans in the future, but it is more about the fans of tomorrow that are relevant here. How likely would you be of being a baseball or football fan if you hadn't watched it, had a local team or played it when you were growing up? There is definitely a draw to soccer, that is undeniable considering its popularity on the world stage, and while you may not 'get it', there are many others who do or will which end up making the soccer stadium a viable project. Take the KC Speedway, for example. Nascar is the nation's fastest growing sport... but there are still quite a few people who see nothing but cars making circles around a track and wasting a whole bunch of gas. These people, however, would still be able to tell you that the KC Speedway is a good thing, even if they don't 'get it' themselves.
While redeveloping Bannister Square is a noble pursuit, soccer will NEVER be a major league sport that justifies that level of taxpayer involvement, especially when "real sports teams" like the Royals and Chiefs are expected to pay their own way.
Disclaimer: I am a soccer and Wizards fan. I disclose this upfront not so that you can disregard what I say upfront, assuming that I'm too biased to discuss the topic rationally, but instead to let you know that yes, I'm going to defend my sport and team but hopefully I've managed to set my feelings aside enough to make a reasonable and credible argument. I won't discuss much about the stadium plan at Bannister. While I think it is a good deal and that it would be good for the community, I know that I want a stadium badly enough that even bad deals would be amiable to me (the JoCo deal never tasted quite right... not that I felt that money for the kids would be wrongly used to build the Wizard's stadium but more that it wasn't quite the right place for both the kid's fields nor the stadium). In any case, the area does need help, that help needs to be more than a spit-shine for the existing mall and retail and nobody else is coming up to the plate (as far as I can see). You could also look at the public finance % of the two existing stadium deals (renovation of Truman Sports Complex and the Sprint Center) and compare it to this. 66% and 80% respectively is a lot larger piece of the pie than 28% this plan asks for. But I said I would not dwell on this. I will conceed that I was not entirely pleased when I heard that ticket prices were going to be so high for this game, but, as you said, this was not anything unique to the Wizards and to an extent understandable. I was also a bit cynical, like you, when I continued to see advertisements with Beckham's likeness after it was pretty certain that he would not be making the trip. Despite this, you have to admit that it is common practice to not give out refunds on tickets for most any event regardless of whatever reason the event does not live up to expectations. Starlight doesn't refund tickets when it rains on the night of your show, KU fans don't get their second round NCAA tourny tickets refunded when KU goes out in the first round. Probably the best example of this is the recent setback for Greg Oden and the Portland Trailblazers. There were quite a number of people who bought season tickets with the expectation that he would be playing. The money those people put in was a bit more than $35. Another aspect of this whole debacle is that not only are Wizards tickets some of the cheapest in the league but the ticket prices compared to last year were relatively unchanged. The Wizards did need to raise prices somewhere, but instead of raising prices across the board they raised prices for the 'Beckham' game. And another thing that was not mentioned in your article is that the Wizards are making some concessions for ticket holders. Perhaps you don't feel that these concessions are enough, but failing to mention them at all is dishonest considering the 'tone' of the rest of your article. While I still agree that it was poor for the organization to try to ride the 'Beckham' effect so far, it is unreasonable to expect that they refund the tickets when he isn't able to show. Lastly, I very much disagree with your ultimate conclusion (that 'the fans aren't coming back') - the current owners of the Wizards bought the club all of a year ago. These owners are successful business men who have made the money necessary to own such a team by not throwing money into situations which they do not expect a return. Soccer does have a future in this country, demonstrated by the tremendous ratings generated by the 2006 World Cup. You are correct that many sports fans today will not become soccer fans in the future, but it is more about the fans of tomorrow that are relevant here. How likely would you be of being a baseball or football fan if you hadn't watched it, had a local team or played it when you were growing up? There is definitely a draw to soccer, that is undeniable considering its popularity on the world stage, and while you may not 'get it', there are many others who do or will which end up making the soccer stadium a viable project. Take the KC Speedway, for example. Nascar is the nation's fastest growing sport... but there are still quite a few people who see nothing but cars making circles around a track and wasting a whole bunch of gas. These people, however, would still be able to tell you that the KC Speedway is a good thing, even if they don't 'get it' themselves.
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