No stadium. Now what?

[MikeO]

Since you won't accept any advice on social behavior,

I will accept advice on social behavior when you accept advice on comedy! 

[Brian Fein]

It doesn't matter what other people do.  If he wants to benefit from it, he can pay for it himself.  He could reel back the scope of the project to something more affordable.  There is a lot he could do.  Guess what - 4 years ago they did a major stadium upgrade WITHOUT PUBLIC FUNDING.  He COULD pay for it himself, it would be an investment for him because he would get more money from leasing the stadium for big events.  

It doesn't matter what other people do.  He COULD do it, if he wanted to.

[Sunstroke]

I will accept advice on social behavior when you accept advice on comedy!   

Show me that you have a sense of humor...or any other qualifications for dispensing that advice, and I'll consider it. All I've learned about your sense of humor to this point is that you can't take a joke, especially when you're the punchline.

[MikeO]

It doesn't matter what other people do.  If he wants to benefit from it, he can pay for it himself.  He could reel back the scope of the project to something more affordable.  There is a lot he could do.  Guess what - 4 years ago they did a major stadium upgrade WITHOUT PUBLIC FUNDING.  He COULD pay for it himself, it would be an investment for him because he would get more money from leasing the stadium for big events.  

It doesn't matter what other people do.  He COULD do it, if he wanted to.

They ALL could do it. EVERY owner has the money to do. Yet they don't (minus Kraft and the SF Giants).  You are holding Ross to a different standard

[Brian Fein]

No, I'm not.  If I want to buy a car, and I ask the bank for money and they tell me "no" - I could still go buy the car if I have enough money saved up to buy it.  Even though 99% of all car purchases are financed through a bank.

Depends on how badly Ross wants his car.  Obviously, he doesn't want it bad enough.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I could still go buy the car if I have enough money saved up to buy it.  Even though 99% of all car purchases are financed through a bank.
.

A bit of digression...

Not quite.  Around 1 in 10 new cars are purchased with cash.  Used the number is even higher.   

Saving to buy a car is more financially sound than borrowing to buy one. 

[Brian Fein]

^^ really?  You're going to refute the random number I made up and tell me "no its 90%, not 99%"

Really?

The point of my message is unchanged.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

^^^ I said it was a digression.  Don't use random numbers and make up shit, otherwise I will start confusing you with MikeO. 

[Sunstroke]

If Ross really wanted to, he certainly could pay for it all himself. Why would he though, when he sees the majority of professional sports teams getting some sort of public funding for their new stadiums? Besides, this sort of thing is a process, so even if Ross is considering paying for the renovations himself, why would he take that position this early in the process, without thoroughly pursuing any and all methods of acquiring public financing first?

Ross didn't get filthy rich by being short-sighted.

^^^ I said it was a digression.  Don't use random numbers and make up shit, otherwise I will start confusing you with MikeO. 

Ouch...

[Dave Gray]

One thing in favor of giving owners public funds.  It's not really giving them money, in most cases.  It's not like we're taking money from a bank and handing it over.  It's a tax break.  It means that money that we would theoretically be receiving from them in property taxes is forgiven.  The risk is that if the team moves away, yes, you don't have to forgive the tax breaks, but you don't get the tax money anyway, because the team is gone.

[MikeO]

One thing in favor of giving owners public funds.  It's not really giving them money, in most cases.  It's not like we're taking money from a bank and handing it over.  It's a tax break.  It means that money that we would theoretically be receiving from them in property taxes is forgiven.  The risk is that if the team moves away, yes, you don't have to forgive the tax breaks, but you don't get the tax money anyway, because the team is gone.

You hit the nail right on the head with this post!

[Spider-Dan]

Since we are pointing out errors in the name of digression:

Saving to buy a car is more financially sound than borrowing to buy one.

That depends entirely on the interest rate you are paying for the car loan.  If you are paying 0% interest then it is most certainly NOT more financially sound to pay cash.

Put another way: if I have $12,000 in my hand, and can choose buy a car outright or finance it at 0%, financing is the better option.  I can take the ~$10k I have left (after down payment and such) and invest it, and any money I make is net profit over having paid cash for the car.

If you're going to nitpick, do it right.

[David Fulcher]

I will accept advice on social behavior when you accept advice on comedy! 

I've been lurking for awhile now during the offseason mostly due to the busyness of my schedule but still follow here quite frequently, and since I've seen this come up a few times, I just wanted to stick up for 'Stroke (not that he seems to need any help in this regard, granted), and state that I actually find him pretty hilarious.  Enjoy the wit, 'Stroke!  Reminds me a lot of my roommate throughout college ("pot luck", btw) and my first two years of med. school.  Think I would enjoy reading some of your stuff as a matter of fact.  Do  you currently write or mostly just editing at this point in time?

Anyways, enough of my "man gushing"...on to the actual topic at hand, to which I don't have quite as strong an opinion.  Since I don't live down there, it's not quite the same for me to say that I was disappointed that this wasn't able to at least come to a public vote, but regardless, whatever happened with that politician in Tallahassee sounds like more than a little bit of shenanigans.  I'm not sure how it would have turned out, but like most, it's discouraging that the opportunity was not made available.   Don't really know where I sit on the privately funded vs. publicly funded with tax breaks fence...while I agree it's probably unrealistic to expect Ross to privately fund the stadium despite his multitude of riches, it would still be nice to see.  I don't know enough about the details of tax breaks and property taxes to have much of an opinion on it at this point.

[phinphan]

Hey David I get what you are saying. I grew up in Miami but I live in Orlando now.I don't care if they ever get a SB down their. I wanted the stadium upgrade for the players. I am kinda biased because I am a Hurricane fan too.The best thing is Miami did a bunch of SB Now that they wont get any more people are going to cry about tax rates going up.Guess what it brought a lot of money in.Anywho I don't care about the SB I was just in it for the team.

[Sunstroke]

Thanks, David...long time no see up here.  I'm writing pretty much full-time these days, with the lion's share being web content, blog posts and ad campaign stuff (product branding, slogans, etc...). I am working on two personal projects currently that involve a good bit of comedy though. PM me your email address, and when I wrap things up, I'll make sure to fire over some material to check out.

Back on topic... While not a true Phins fan (Go Niners!), I have adopted the Phins as a second favorite team to cheer for. Losing the Dolphins would be devastating for South Florida sports, which is why I just can't see it happening. I think that when all the blustering and posturing by politicians and billionaires is done, they'll figure out a way to keep the Phins in Miami.