Apr 20, 2006 8:56 am US/Central
Reality Check: The Twins Stadium Debate
by Pat Kessler
(WCCO)
At the Minnesota state Capitol Wednesday, lawmakers debated if they will take Minnesotans out to the ballgame.
They have debated for years and WCCO-TV's Pat Kessler looks at what has changed.
It was the
same year O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder, Bill Clinton was in his first term as president and
"Braveheart" won the Academy Award for best picture.
And in 1995, the Minnesota Twins made their first pitch for a new stadium.
IN FACT, a lot has changed in those 11 years.
From St. Louis to San Diego to Philadelphia, Major League Baseball teams built 13 new stadiums and will soon break ground in Washington D.C. for a 14th.
How much did the public pay? Here's what you NEED TO KNOW.
In the old days, the owners built the ballparks and some still do, including ballparks in St. Louis, Mo.; San Francisco, Calif. and Atlanta, Ga.
But
taxpayers pitched in a lot of money for the 11 other new ballparks since 1995, contributing an average of 50.78 percent of the cost.
In Minnesota, the public would pay about 74 percent of the stadium cost. That's about the same as taxpayers in similar sized markets, including Arizona (76 percent), Colorado (75 percent), Seattle (76 percent) and Pittsburgh (71 percent).
And that's NOT THE WHOLE STORY. The ballpark is only getting pricier.
In the beginning, the baseball stadium price tag, which included a retractable roof, was
$350 million.
Now, the stadium cost, without a roof, is 50 percent more, at
$522 million.
That's Reality Check.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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