Kudos
By Who says local government doesn’t work in the District of Columbia?
NEW YORK — Washington’s new baseball team shut down business and promotional operations indefinitely Wednesday as its move to the nation’s capital teetered on the brink of collapse.
The decision by Major League Baseball followed the District of Columbia Council’s decision Tuesday night to require private financing for at least half the cost of building a new stadium. The September agreement to move the Montreal Expos to Washington called for a ballpark fully financed by government money.
Building a stadium for a major league baseball team is one of the worst conceivable ways to spend taxpayer money. Baseball teams return very little in financial terms to a community, and what gains exist are concentrated in a VERY few hands. Major League Baseball has been trying to bull rush this through, and the DC Council has called them on it.
I really don’t have enough insight to know whether MLB or the Council will back down. The Expos might go back to being the Expos, for another year at least, unless MLB can convince some saps in Portland or Vegas or Memphis to pony up the dough.