Transcripts

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Minnesotans for Major League Baseball is a group of more than 100 citizens convened by the Minnesota Twins to wrestle with big questions, like how important is baseball to the region? Might Minnesota lose big League baseball? If so, why? And what can be done about it?

The group was to have heard this evening from political columnist George Will, who recently served on a similar national committee, but that presentation was canceled late yesterday. The Minnesota committee contains some retired ballplayers, a former state Supreme Court justice, an ex-congressman, several restaurateurs and other business people, attorneys, union leaders, a college president, and the Twin Cities best known vendor, Wally the Beer Man. Twins general counsel Ben Hirst says after months of listening and reading, the group has concluded there is a problem facing baseball's future in the state. Hirst says the group will release its report in early to mid-December.

BEN HIRST: Well, it'll certainly contain a very thorough discussion of the problem here and how similar problems have been addressed in other cities. How far the report will go in the way of recommending a preferred solution, we don't know yet.

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: The problem, as identified by George Will and others in the National study, and most likely by the Twins group in their forthcoming report, is that teams in moderately-sized markets like the Twin Cities, bring in much less money than those in the biggest cities. This leads to great disparities in their payrolls and usually in the quality of their teams. Will's committee suggested Major League Baseball takes steps such as revenue sharing and a payroll tax to reduce the gap between rich and poor teams.

Another step taken in many smaller markets is the construction of new stadiums that give teams more ways to make money through luxury suites, restaurants, and other amenities. Minnesotans, through their legislators, have rejected public financing of a new ballpark. That's why another local group, New Ballpark Incorporated, is looking into private funding of a baseball stadium.

This group is led by two Minneapolis bankers and is looking at potential ballpark sites in that city, how much such a project might cost, and how that cost might be divided. Charles Newland is a consultant working with the business group.

CHARLES NEWLAND: We are going to present an overview of our financial plan. And I emphasize the word plan. There isn't any funding available yet to a citizens committee that's been appointed by the mayor and the city council in Minneapolis. We're going to present that information to them Monday.

WILLIAM WILLCOXEN: Newland says New Ballpark is using $275 million as an approximate cost of a stadium. He says the group hopes to raise about 150 million through private investors, and then would look to the Twins to pay the remainder. The business group and the Twins committee have done most of their work independently of one another, although they did hold one joint meeting.

If the business group continues to make progress on private financing, it may work more closely with the Twins and with Minneapolis next year. But Newland says the group has no plans to ask the legislature for money. Hirst says the Twins are not ruling out some form of public assistance for a ballpark. I'm William Willcoxen, Minnesota Public Radio.