When the Minnesota Twins last made a major push for a new ballpark, team officials argued they needed the facility to make them financially competitive with the rest of the league. In the four years since that effort failed at the Legislature, player salaries have risen so high that the team now concedes that revenue from a new ballpark alone won't balance their books.
That concession is reflected in a ballpark bill announced yesterday that would require a panel of judges to rule on whether Major League Baseball fixes such problems sufficiently to make a new stadium viable. MPR's Art Hughes looks at the advisability of such a plan.
Transcripts
text | pdf |
ART HUGHES: In recent years, a popular theme has run through the Minnesota stadium debate. Before construction begins, the refrain goes, Major League Baseball must do something to fix the huge disparities between the rich and the not-as-rich teams.
SPEAKER 1: Major League Baseball must change its ways.
SPEAKER 2: Major League Baseball must reform itself.
SPEAKER 1: There will not be one shovel of dirt for this new stadium unless--
SPEAKER 3: Major League Baseball must change the way it does business.
SPEAKER 4: That until baseball reforms itself, there will be no construction of a ballpark in Minnesota.
ART HUGHES: The idea is to pressure the team, to pressure the league to go further than the revenue sharing reforms that came out of the 1996 collective bargaining agreement between the owners and the players. The Blue Ribbon Panel on Baseball Economics, appointed by Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, reported last summer that those reforms have done little to level the playing field among the teams. Andrew Zimbalist is an economics professor at Smith College and author of the book Baseball and Billions. He says reforms are needed, but he says the Twins have little leverage unless they can work with other teams in similar circumstances, Oakland and Kansas City, for instance. He says most other Cities with baseball revenue concerns have already built stadiums.
ANDREW ZIMBALIST: I think if you all sang that tune together, it would likely have some impact. But that kind of concerted action by Cities is almost unheard of in this country. So I think that by yourself, it's not going to be terribly effective.
ART HUGHES: Those in Minnesota demanding league reforms have adopted the language of the Blue Ribbon Panel report to call for salary caps and revenue sharing. But even baseball insiders can't say how such a deal will look once an agreement is reached. Zimbalist says the league reforms may not be as dramatic as some would like.
ANDREW ZIMBALIST: You're not going to have the George Steinbrenner of the baseball world overnight saying instead of contributing $22 million, that they'll contribute $50 million to a revenue sharing pool. You'll see some more modest change.
ART HUGHES: Legislation being introduced at the Capitol this week paves the way for a $300 million open air ballpark, again, tied to League reforms. The legislation would set up a panel of three retired judges to rule on whether the league meets the criteria sufficiently to reward the Twins with a new facility. Supporters say they want to have construction plans in place, and the league reforms would trigger groundbreaking on the project. At least one legislator wants to know what the hurry is. Republican representative Phil Krinkie of Shoreview, says he'd like to wait and see what Major League Baseball does first.
PHIL KRINKIE: Why is it that we have to put legislation on the table today, when we can allow Major League Baseball to do these reforms and find out if those reforms are what we will accept or whether they really redistribute money.
ART HUGHES: Krinkie says he's also concerned about letting an appointed panel, rather than elected legislators, decide whether the league's efforts are adequate. Adding to the uncertainty is concern that the players union may not reach a contract agreement with the owners by the start of next season. An impasse could prompt a baseball strike. And any assessment of Major League Baseball's reforms would have to wait until both sides reach common ground. Art Hughes, Minnesota Public Radio.